ISG refurbishes and upgrades the Manchester Crown Court building
(10/03/2010)

ISG has commenced work on a £3.3 million project with Her Majesty's Courts Service (HMCS) to refurbish and upgrade the Manchester Crown Court building. The scheme sees the contractor make significant internal alterations to the building to accommodate six new court rooms, as well as carrying out a comprehensive programme of refurbishment across existing facilities.

To minimise disruption to court proceedings, ISG will be carrying out this complex project 'out of hours', working across three floors of the central Manchester building. The contractor will strip out and reconfigure areas on the ground and first floors to create three new magistrates’ court rooms on the lower floor and three new crown court rooms above, as well as associated office accommodation.

At basement level ISG will form a secure custody lift and stair core up to the second floor, as well as creating a new jury entrance. Extensive refurbishment and redecoration will be carried out within existing police office accommodation, the first floor public concourse area and the judge’s retiring rooms. Externally, ISG will refurbish the building's stone façade, with the project scheduled for completion in summer 2010.

Jim Parker, ISG’s regional director, commented: "The project not only presents a range of logistical challenges due to its busy city centre location, but also necessitates a flexible working approach as we cannot interrupt the operational capacity of the Crown Court building. Working closely with the client has proved essential in designing a robust construction solution that enables safe and effective programme delivery, successfully managing the complex interfaces between the various elements of the scheme.”