| Wigan Joint Services Centre |
|
| Client: | Hochtief |
| Project: | FSquared worked with Hochtief at bid stage for the development of a new Joint Services Centre (JSC) in central Wigan. |
| Location: | Wigan |
| Value: | Not Available |
| Status: | The bid was successful. |
Outcomes
The Need
The Wigan Joint Services Centre was important to Wigan in terms of the size of the investment, the location and also the number of services that the building was to house. There was therefore a need to make sure that the development facilitated wider community benefits, that proposals were linked to existing regeneration activity and that stakeholders and communities were engaged with during the development of the proposals.
Our Approach
FSquared developed a range of proposals in order to maximise the regeneration impact of the JSC. Proposals covered the following:
Added Value. Proposals were based around the following sub-themes:
Health – so that the impact of the proposed Healthy Living Zone was maximised, FSquared proposed to establish links with Wigan Leisure and Culture Trust, complementary therapists, local schools and colleges and various sporting organisations such as Wigan Warriors, Wigan Athletic and Wigan’s Sports Development.
Environment – Proposals around minimising impact on environment and encouraging greener lifestyles for example by including carbon calculators on self-service terminals
Learning – Proposed a Neighbourhood Learning Zone in order to encourage learning for all age groups. This proposed to use the buildings and the public realm as classrooms.
Economy – Surgeries, jobs fairs and work experience opportunities were proposed in order to maximising impact on the economy
Café – maximising the impact of the café as a centrally vibrant space was seen as vital. FSquared proposed to work with Wigan City Council to undertake a feasibility study to assess the potential for a social enterprise to deliver café services.
Arts and culture – Ensuring that a partnership approach was adopted was at the heart of FSquared’s proposals. Organisations such as Wigan Leisure and Culture Trust, the Wigan Artists Network, OK Studios and the Arts Exchange are already doing excellent work and it was important to engage with them in the development of proposals.
Community and Stakeholder Engagement
FSquared established a strong ongoing relationship with project stakeholders and local communities in order to ensure that the future users of the centre had genuine input into its development.
Employment & Training
Proposals included a commitment to ensuring that there are ongoing and significant job opportunities from the construction of the JSC.
The Wigan JSC Employment and Training Partnership was proposed. This was to have a presence within the centre in that it was to advertise jobs, job fairs and employment surgeries.
Another key proposal involved linking to Wigan College in order to maximise the potential for work-based learning and apprenticeships.
Supporting Local Business
This was to be achieved by engaging with local suppliers and sub-contractors to ensure that they are in a strong position to win work generated by the development.
Socio-economic Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) – These were set up around the following themes in order to ensure that proposals were implemented:
Local economic advantage
Local employment
Training
Supplier diversity
Community cohesion
Equality and diversity
Health and safety.
The Benefits
Broadly speaking the benefits of our activities were:
Engaged and consulted stakeholders and communities
Well researched and articulated community benefit proposals showing deliverability and affordability
Clear measurement criteria to ensure the effective implementation of community benefit proposals
The Need
The Wigan Joint Services Centre was important to Wigan in terms of the size of the investment, the location and also the number of services that the building was to house. There was therefore a need to make sure that the development facilitated wider community benefits, that proposals were linked to existing regeneration activity and that stakeholders and communities were engaged with during the development of the proposals.
Our Approach
FSquared developed a range of proposals in order to maximise the regeneration impact of the JSC. Proposals covered the following:
Health – so that the impact of the proposed Healthy Living Zone was maximised, FSquared proposed to establish links with Wigan Leisure and Culture Trust, complementary therapists, local schools and colleges and various sporting organisations such as Wigan Warriors, Wigan Athletic and Wigan’s Sports Development.
Environment – Proposals around minimising impact on environment and encouraging greener lifestyles for example by including carbon calculators on self-service terminals
Learning – Proposed a Neighbourhood Learning Zone in order to encourage learning for all age groups. This proposed to use the buildings and the public realm as classrooms.
Economy – Surgeries, jobs fairs and work experience opportunities were proposed in order to maximising impact on the economy
Café – maximising the impact of the café as a centrally vibrant space was seen as vital. FSquared proposed to work with Wigan City Council to undertake a feasibility study to assess the potential for a social enterprise to deliver café services.
Arts and culture – Ensuring that a partnership approach was adopted was at the heart of FSquared’s proposals. Organisations such as Wigan Leisure and Culture Trust, the Wigan Artists Network, OK Studios and the Arts Exchange are already doing excellent work and it was important to engage with them in the development of proposals.
FSquared established a strong ongoing relationship with project stakeholders and local communities in order to ensure that the future users of the centre had genuine input into its development.
Proposals included a commitment to ensuring that there are ongoing and significant job opportunities from the construction of the JSC.
The Wigan JSC Employment and Training Partnership was proposed. This was to have a presence within the centre in that it was to advertise jobs, job fairs and employment surgeries.
Another key proposal involved linking to Wigan College in order to maximise the potential for work-based learning and apprenticeships.
This was to be achieved by engaging with local suppliers and sub-contractors to ensure that they are in a strong position to win work generated by the development.
Local economic advantage
Local employment
Training
Supplier diversity
Community cohesion
Equality and diversity
Health and safety.
The Benefits
Broadly speaking the benefits of our activities were: