Balfour Beatty picked for Henry Royce fit-out
The contractor is to install three laboratories and offices on the sixth floor of the University of Manchester’s £150m Henry Royce Institute on Upper Brook Street, creating a sustainable materials research centre.
Balfour Beatty Kilpatrick, the infrastructure group’s M&E arm, is to carry out the fit-out, under a contract due to expire in October 2021.
The initial estimate for the cost of the sixth floor fit-out was £4m, and the university received bids from three firms ranging between £2.4m and £1.9m.
Work to the building’s sixth floor is being funded through a £3m package from the European Structural and Investment Funds Growth Programme, while the rest of the building is to be fitted out separately.
The facility is intended to house £45m worth of scientific equipment.
NBBJ Architects designed the Henry Royce Institute, a 10-storey research and innovation facility, and construction was carried out by Laing O’Rourke.
Construction of the building began in 2017 and completed earlier this year.
The Henry Royce Institute is being built in collaboration with the University of Manchester and eight other educational institutions, including the University of Liverpool.
It will focus on materials research across four key areas: energy, engineering, functional, and soft materials.
Balfour Beatty is also nearing completion on the University of Manchester’s £350m engineering campus, MECD, on Booth Street East. The 700,000 sq ft development is one of the largest capital projects ever undertaken by a UK higher education institution, and is part of the university’s 10-year, £1bn campus masterplan.
