The Newcastle office of Summers-Inman, the award-winning construction and property consultancy, has been appointed in a multifaceted capacity to work on the transformation of Whitehaven bus station into a £4.1m creative hub called Buzz Station & Watershed.
Appointed by BEC, the property development company which is owned by the Nuclear Decommissioning Authority, Copeland and Allerdale Borough Councils and Cumbria County Council. BEC has a commitment to regeneration, community projects and the creation of sustainable buildings with low carbon omissions.
The Buzz Station & Watershed is the first phase of BEC’s wider £300m North Shore project, which aims to help revitalise the town of Whitehaven.
The scheme will be quite unique in its approach to energy efficiency. Photovoltaics will be installed on the roof, to generate electricity from photons of light and the project is also trialling the use of a direct-current electrical system. This is a rare way of converting alternating current (AC) to direct current (DC) power to run small devices. With the rise of renewable energy which generates DC power, Buzz Station will use the DC system to run part of the lighting system, some of the IT networks and USB charging points.
Construction started on-site in July with completion anticipated in summer 2020. Summers-Inman will be providing project management, cost management and principal design services on the scheme. Other project partners include Norr Architects, Desco, BGP, Collective Design and GastroNorth.
Summers-Inman won the contract following a competitive tender. Commenting on the win, Ian Campbell, director of Summers-Inman, said: “We are delighted with this latest appointment, on what is the first project to hit site on BEC’s masterplan for Whitehaven regeneration.
“We value our relationship with BEC and are delighted to work in partnership with them to fulfil BEC’s vision of Buzz Station and the significant enhancements it will bring to Whitehaven and the local community.”
Michael Pemberton CEO at BEC said: “We are pleased to be working with the team at Summers-Inman who have solid experience of working on this type of regeneration project.
“By regenerating neglected sites and improving public spaces, we hope to attract more visitors to strengthen the local economy of Whitehaven and improve the way the harbour looks.
“I have every confidence that the project will be delivered on time by Summers-Inman and to the highest possible standard.”
The project is due to be open to the public in late summer 2020.
*Summers-Inman operates nationally with a staff of 105 employed in eight offices throughout the UK in Edinburgh, Newcastle, Manchester, Leeds, Leicester, Stafford, Birmingham and London. The consultancy has an enviable list of blue-chip clients including Aldi, Walkers, PepsiCo, Tesco, McDonalds and Severn Trent Water.
