Plans for a £14m training facility that will give Sunderland people the skills to build and upgrade the city’s homes have been outlined.
The Housing Innovation and Construction Skills Academy (HICSA) aims to provide a facility to educate, train and upskill local people to create innovative factory-built new homes.
The vision will advance next week when Sunderland Cabinet is expected to give the go ahead to seek the multimillion-pound funding for the building. City leaders hope that HICSA will receive financial support as part of the Government’s Build Back Better and Levelling Up agendas.
Sunderland City Council will develop plans alongside Education Partnership North East and Sunderland-born architect George Clarke's Ministry of Building Innovation and Education to create the facility in the Sheepfolds neighbourhood of Riverside Sunderland.
The training academy and innovation hub could allow Sunderland to develop future talent, ensuring local people play a leading role in constructing homes of the future.
The city also believes the plans fit with the 海角视频 Government’s levelling up agenda, creating more economic opportunities for people and businesses by enabling the area to ‘build its own’.
It will also support the council’s strategy to create a carbon neutral city by 2040, training local people to deliver decarbonisation programmes for the city’s existing homes and neighbourhoods that will improve energy efficiency, reduce carbon footprint and keep residents warm throughout the winter months.
Coun Graeme Miller, leader of Sunderland City Council, said: “We have an ambition to build 1,000 new homes on the Riverside Sunderland site, and we want them to be absolutely world-class.
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“Sunderland people are known internationally for their ability to make things – from ships in bygone years to cars today.
“We now have an opportunity to be a global leader when it comes to modern methods of construction (MMC), if we put in place the right infrastructure to deliver more highly-skilled people.
“The HICSA will create opportunities for the people of Sunderland, and for the city itself, to carve out a new industry and to build homes that will allow it to grow its reputation as a place to live, work and play.
“It will allow our next generation to hone the skills they will need in the future. It’s a vital next step in the city’s vision.”
The plans envisage young people in the area developing sustainable homes which would be constructed off-site, making use of the latest technological advancements, to ensure the properties that are built in the city are eco-friendly, digitally advanced, and help Sunderland realise its Smart City and Net-Zero Carbon ambitions.
Ellen Thinnesen, chief executive of Education Partnership North East, which comprises Sunderland College, said: “The HICSA will create a place in which young people develop exciting new skills, which will not only create opportunities for them, but will advance the agenda of the city when it comes to building homes using modern methods of construction that are faster to construct and deliver exemplary quality and energy efficiency standards that, ultimately, provide more flexible, modern homes that respond to the changing ways in which people are living.
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“We are extremely passionate about the role that education can play in not only improving the life chances of the people we teach, but also in increasing the prospects of Sunderland as a city and the region at large. We’re hugely excited to be working on a project that could train a new generation of skilled housebuilders, showcase new technologies, and promote innovation and knowledge transfer.”
George Clarke, TV architect and founder of the Ministry of Building Innovation and Education, said: “High quality homes are at the absolute heart of a successful society and a thriving economy, and by building them locally, Sunderland can maximise the benefit to the city.
"Training up the next generation in modern methods of construction is critical to ensure we are at the forefront when it comes to delivering on the future needs of the 海角视频. We are a city of makers, and HICSA will ensure that Sunderland becomes a known-leader in MMC (modern methods of construction).”
The academy is one of a number of projects that are incorporated in the Riverside Sunderland Masterplan, which sets out a development framework for the city, including the former Vaux Brewery site, High Street West, Keel Square, Galley’s Gill, Farringdon Row and Sheepfolds.