Work is underway on Bedford College’s town centre £4.3 Million Modern Methods of Construction Centre for “off site” training, which is the future of the industry.

Pre-manufacturing homes, or at least part of them, and then shipping them to a building site, has been identified as the most efficient and cost-effective way of meeting the huge demand for housing. To keep up with the skills demand from the construction industry, Bedford College has been awarded money to upgrade its existing facilities in Cauldwell Street.

The riverside campus already houses the Brundtland Building, which leads on modern “eco” infrastructure training, and the Advanced Engineering Centre, which has a Virtual Reality construction ‘cave’, funded by the Connolly Foundation. Digital engineering technologies and the use of computerised-aided design (CAD) equipment is already part of the wider college curriculum offer. There is a huge synergy now between engineering design and the construction industry, which opens up a whole new world of employment.

This new funding will see the single storey building which sits alongside the Brundtland Building on Cauldwell Street being upgraded to include a facility to construct dwellings and component parts like kitchen and bathroom “pods”.

“We will be working closely with leading employers in the construction industry regionally to get input about the skills they need to fast-forward these modern methods,” said The Bedford College Group’s Director of Construction Dave Wilkins,

“There are huge opportunities here for training young people for great jobs in the future - be it 16-year-olds embarking on apprenticeships, those undertaking the new T-Levels, others progressing on to degree-level Higher Education courses, and those in the industry who want to modernise their skills.”

Bedford College staff and students are important customers in the town centre, particularly during term time. 

The project is due to be completed by Autumn 2021.