Located in Stockport, the contract for the rebuild has been given to the firm by the Department for Education (DfE)
The rebuild of Bramhall High School will see a new three-storey school spanning 9,252 m2 with education space for 11 to 16-year-olds.
This will include provision for pupils with special educational needs.
Another building will be remodelled
The school also features a single-storey block that will be remodelled, while the other six existing blocks will be demolished once the new building is finished to minimise disruption to educational activity.
The school will remain operational during the build, meaning Willmott Dixon has worked with the DfE, Bramhall High School, and Stockport Metropolitan Borough Council during an extended preconstruction period to ensure a plan is in place to prevent construction activity from disrupting the site.
The scheme will see external works creating sports provision, car parking, fencing, and hard and soft landscaping.
Low-carbon tech is also specified, with photovoltaic panels, ground source heat pumps, and electric vehicle charging points. Construction is set to start in October 2026, and the new school building is scheduled to be completed in August 2028, ready for the academic year.
Full completion is scheduled for September 2029.
Boosting the local economy
Alongside delivering the school, Willmott Dixon is committing to prioritising spend with local businesses, and creating local employment opportunities. More than 400 hours of engagement via work experience, skills sessions, trade placements, and specific interventions for Pupil Premium students will also be on offer.
Mike Walmsley, North West operations director at Willmott Dixon, said: “We’re delighted to be delivering the new Bramhall High School and to be playing a part in creating an excellent new learning environment for pupils. Bramhall will be rebuilt around a school that stays open every single day of the programme. Sequencing the new building, the demolition of six blocks and the external works so that teaching is never interrupted is the discipline that will define this project, and it is the reason the DfE and the school brought us in more than a year before we start on site.
“This is our third major Department for Education appointment in the North West inside twelve months, and our third recent project in Stockport. That continuity gives us a local supply chain and a local workforce we can draw on from day one, rather than building both from scratch.”
Emphasis is being placed on location-relevant skills policies in attempts to solve the construction skills shortage, and the CITB has signed a partnership with the West Midlands Combined Authority to create a construction skills academy.
