Practical lesson on site for students
Jun 12 2009 by Chris Knox, The Journal
HUNDREDS of North-East students have been given the chance to sharpen their skills by looking around England’s biggest office development to see first-hand how it is being built.
Almost 400 construction technology students from Northumbria University’s School of the Built Environment were given the opportunity to spend time with all the staff involved in the construction of Quorum Business Park on North Tyneside, where three new buildings are under development.
The students participated in the series of visits, which were suggested by project manager Jonathan Ryder after he found it hard to gain on-site experience while studying for his own degree.
Mr Ryder said: “It’s vitally important that students get out of the lecture theatre and on to a live building site. When I began working with Quorum I approached the university and told them that their students would be welcome to visit our site.
“All of the buildings are at different stages of the construction process and we explained to the students how we construct a building from start to finish, which I think all of the students found fascinating.” If they progress into the building industry it is important that they understand the processes that everyone else has to go through as we all have to work together.
“We are hoping to regularly welcome students to the site and we will continue to work closely with the university to help them deliver a degree that is valid to the workplace.”
Since groundwork started last year, the development has handed out contracts to 46 companies and provided work for 1,186 builders, who have clocked up more than 163,000 hours in areas of construction, plastering, landscaping, roofing, cladding, electrics and plumbing. More than £180m is being invested into Quorum, making it England’s biggest office development project, with eight new high-quality buildings out of the ground in the next three years.
Northumbria University senior lecturer Minnie Fraser said: “This visit really helped to reinforce the information we give in lectures and I am confident that our students learned a lot from it, particularly about sustainability in construction.
“When visiting the site they don’t just learn the technology behind the buildings, but also how the site is organised and run...
“It is extremely hard to arrange visits of this scale as we had almost 400 students to co-ordinate and it is great that Quorum is supporting our students and the region’s future construction professionals.”
