Our ongoing relationship with De Montfort University

The Vijay Patel Building, Hugh Aston Building and The Yard – an extension to the Hugh Aston Building – are significant additions to the university that Pick Everard is proud to have provided a major contribution to in recent years. We have worked in close collaboration with both the university and the same key design team organisations in delivering these projects, developing our working relationships, and bringing our collective knowledge to the benefit of these high-quality developments.

Pick Everard’s Building Services team, with assistance from our sustainability experts, has been the cornerstone of the relationship. Throughout, we have remained committed to helping DMU’s estates team to deliver on the university’s long-term vision.

John Thompson, National Director for Building Services, said: “Having worked with DMU since around 1990, the relationship has endured through the mutual trust and respect that exists between our two organisations. We have a good understanding of DMU as a client, but we do not take things for granted and constantly challenge our team to provide the best advice and input to projects that is possible.

“Continually supporting educational institutions like DMU to enhance their facilities to help produce the graduates of the future is a contribution we are extremely proud of. In addition to that, we are also changing the landscape of our home in Leicester to ensure that it is an attractive destination for students in the UK and from overseas.”

The largest scheme we have delivered for DMU is the £42 million Vijay Patel Building – the flagship development within a campus-wide redevelopment programme. As part of the project, Pick Everard provided mechanical and electrical engineering design, as well as sustainability consultancy and BREEAM accredited professional services. The project comprised remodelling, refurbishment, and new-build elements to provide a new, modern home for the schools of Fashion and Textiles, Art, Design and Architecture.

In order to facilitate this state-of-the-art development, we also undertook enabling works – including the relocation of schools housed in the original buildings to elsewhere on the campus until their new destination was complete.

The project, which was designed to BREEAM Excellent, drew strong praise from staff and students and was described as the “best new building in Leicester”, by the Leicester Civic Society with their judges celebrating both its modernity and strong functionality. The project went on to win a number of awards, including large non-residential project of the year at the ProCon Leicestershire Awards in 2017.

Our commitment to supporting education and research has taken many forms beyond project delivery. Having a Leicester-based headquarters, Pick Everard has directly supported the individual development of many aspiring trainee engineers and architects, partnering with DMU when it launched its four-year part-time level 7 and 8 apprenticeship course for RIBA Part II and Part III qualifications.

Furthermore, a joint academic-industry R&D project – led by the university – was supported by Pick Everard as an industry partner. This helped explore how construction management communicates information about a building’s design and operation to all groups involved in a project – highlighting the need for Building Information Modelling (BIM) and other tools to be used more effectively in the future.

Arguably, without DMU, Pick Everard would not be the same business it is today. Many of its graduates have gone on to full-time employment with us – particularly the sustainability team. One such example is our Director for Sustainability and Energy, Dr Jose Hernandez, who completed his PhD in Building Physics at DMU shortly before joining our team.

Offering students an environment built around improved modern facilities to complete their studies has proven beneficial to both organisations over the years and will continue to do so for many more. DMU’s director of estates and facilities, Umesh Desai, said: “There is no doubt that over the years our relationship with Pick Everard has gone from strength to strength. The team’s expertise – and excellent collaboration with other delivery organisations – has resulted in some fantastic facilities for our students and staff, and we look forward to this relationship continuing to develop and grow over the coming years.”

John Thompson continued: “With seven undergraduate apprentices on the building services engineering team, our commitment to education is unrivalled. Adding to our award-winning portfolio in educational design and construction is always on our radar. Having recently been appointed to the university’s professional services framework, we are looking forward to continuing our close relationship with DMU in the future, and offering the service and expertise that has worked so well over the years.”