DPP is attending the annual Education Estates conference and dinner over the next two days, celebrating another very successful year for DPP in the education sector.
Working with our clients we have secured planning permission for eleven new schools and one school extension across the UK, totalling approximately 60,000sqm of floorspace and over 7,000 pupil spaces, as well as two new significant university campus developments.
One of the most significant education consents obtained this year by DPP is the new University of Cumbria City Centre Campus in Carlisle named ‘The Citadels’ because of its inclusion of two Grade I listed towers within a former medieval fortress. The total cost of this project is £77.5m with £50m of funding provide by the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities (DLUHC), £4m from the Carlisle Town Deal Fund towards the proposed 800sqm Business Interaction Hub within the scheme, and the University is providing the remainder of the funding. Planning permission was granted planning permission in August 2022 and includes 11,500 sqm of floorspace with a mix of high-quality and fully digitally enabled teaching spaces, alongside a 200-seater multi-purpose lecture theatre and exhibition areas.
Of the eleven new schools which we have obtained planning permission for this year, seven are secondary, two are primary, and two are all-through schools. Four of the new schools approved will provide education to children with Special Education Needs (SEN).
DPP has a 100% success rate in delivering schools’ projects across the UK. We have delivered consents against considerable objections and to programmes that appeared impossible to achieve. We understand the needs of schools and other higher education campuses; the issues they will face through the planning process; but also, the pressures those delivering schools have to deal with.
Image: The Citadels – Day Architecture
