Specialist construction company, Western Building Systems has clinched their first contract award under the Welsh Procurement Alliance’s (WPA) £1bn modular buildings framework.
The procurement framework is available to public sector organisations in Wales and forms one of the WPA Construction, Extension and Refurbishment portfolios.
Western will be responsible for the off-site manufacture and on-site construction of a brand, new, state-of-the-art modular building that will become the new hub for the ‘Flying Start programme’ in Penyrheol, Caerphilly.
The Flying start programme forms part of a wider Welsh Government funded initiative available in targeted areas to provide support to families with a child under four years old. The programme promotes language, cognitive, social and emotional skills, physical development and early identification of high needs in families.
The new purpose-built centre will consist of large childcare space with plenty of room for the children to interact and play, hygiene facilities designed specifically for young children as well as regular bathrooms, storage, a kitchen, office and large meeting room.
Neil Barker from WPA commented: “We are delighted to see the WPA framework in action, helping to build relationships between quality modular suppliers and public sector bodies. Frameworks like this help make the procurement process much more streamlined, resulting in public sector bodies getting construction projects off to a start much quicker – a benefit for the supplier, client and the wider community making use of services once in place.”
The hub will host a wide range of classes and workshops, provide health support and guidance, parenting groups as well as free part-time childcare.
Western Building Systems will be responsible for:
Commenting on the project, Rory McGuigan, of Western Building Systems said, “We are thrilled to have been awarded this particular project in Caerphilly. The centre will provide some crucial services to the surrounding community and hopefully help give young children in the area the best possible start to life.
“Our modular building option is especially useful in projects such as this where there is an expectation that the site will remain operational for as long as possible – this particular site will remain open to visitors Monday to Friday, 9 to 5 right up until the new centre opens.
“Western’s unique Single Source approach means we manufacture all of the building components off-site in a strictly controlled factory environment before constructing on site in a much shorter time frame compared to traditional building methods. This, in turn, leads to enhanced on site health and safety and greatly reduced disruption to services.
“We are very much looking forward to getting started with the project and working alongside our new client Caerphilly County Borough Council.”
