hartlepool college: principles into practice

Hartlepool Collegeof Further Education

Hartlepool College: Putting Principles into Practice

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Excellence in Further and Higher Education

Principles Into PracticeThe philosophy behind Hartlepool College

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Six years and £53 million pounds in the making, the new Hartlepool College is a

stunning, contemporary spacious building which is bright, efficient and technologically

advanced. It was designed with a huge amount of input from our students and

apprentices, as well as employers and our partners in the community and the higher education sector. This feedback allowed

us to develop spaces and facilities across all sectors that would be comfortable, up

to date and relevant, but with an in-built flexibility to adapt and expand as new

technologies, trends and vocationalareas emerged.

The scale and complexity of the new College is staggering, but at its core are

a set of simple values and principles that were defined from the very outset. These

values and principles have been integrated into the fabric, character and operation of

the College, which has helped us achieve a building fit to serve the region to which we

so proudly belong.

Thinking differently:the16 principles that shaped the College

Welcome to a new era of education and training for Hartlepool and the North East region

“What Britain needs to stimulate growth is to create properly trained, properly supported and properly skilled people. It needs innovative places like Hartlepool College to do this.”

The Rt. Hon. the Lord MandelsonSkills Academy Opening, October 3rd 2011

“I have been really, really impressed... It’s really heartening to see a college like this committed to giving young people that confidence to be able to go into the workplace.”

HRH The Duke of YorkHartlepool College Official Opening, February 16th 2012


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Opposite page:

Upper left:The College was designed to be a

clean, modern environment, built first and foremost to provide excellent

learning resources and a mature, relaxed atmosphere conducive to both the work

and social aspects of College life.

Upper centre:The College features a large and airy

atrium which also contains Coffee Rapport, a busy coffee bar staffed by baristas that has proven a popular with students, staff

and visitors alike.

Upper right:The Learning Core’s large glazed areas offer superb views of Tees Bay and the

centre of Hartlepool.

Lower left:Several spacious design studios serve the College’s creative industries students, and

iMacs are equipped as standard.

Lower centre:Like the Flagship, the Luminary health and

beauty salons are fully open to the public and operate to a commercial timetable.

Lower right:The College’s Lyra Baby Grand piano is

not only beautifully restored outwardly - it is fully tuned, and every Friday students

from the Northern School of Music perform recitals to herald the weekend.

“Hartlepool Borough Council and Hartlepool College of Further Education have enjoyed a successful working relationship for a number of years. The College has helped the authority achieve a number of objectives outlined in the Corporate Workforce Development Strategy.”

Rachel Smith | Hartlepool Borough CouncilPrincipal Workforce Development Officer

“Darchem Engineering work in partnership with the College for a number of projects and it is the quality of training and service that we value. This quality approach has manifested itself in a superb building – a building that allows employer partners the opportunity to view the skills training in every classroom, laboratory and work area.” Shirley Wilson | Darchem Engineering

Human Resources Officer

“Tallent Automotive has a significant investment in recruiting and employing apprentices and it is important that we engage with a provider that has the resources to deliver the skills training we require.The Skills Academy is an outstanding environment and one that we see the benefit from when the apprentices join us on site.”

Dave Pearson | Tallent Automotive LimitedTraining Controller


5All photography in this document features bonafide Hartlepool College staff, students and resources


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Above: the sketch made by architect Adam Jones at an early planning meeting between Bond Bryan and the College, defining its distinctive shape based on the available land.

Above: detailed plans were made available during a consultation period with the public, stakeholders and partners, to ensure that any concerns could be resolved.

Above: sophisticated computer-generated 3D models allowed the College executive to see how the final building would look and work within its surrounding environment, and also to allow a variety of finishes and landscaping options to be cost-effectively explored before final choices were committed to.

Below: College students and apprentices played an active part in all stages of the construction process, allowing them to gain priceless experience.

Below: The College Executive Team held numerous events to ensure that students had a large input into what facilities and features the new College would offer.

Below: the building of the new Hartlepool College was accomplished by hundreds of people working together, and here are just three of them! Left to right: Nigel Fishburn of Miller Construction was Senior Quantity Surveyor on the new College, Andrew Rapmund of AA Projects was Project Manager and local man Jeff Hedley, also of Miller, was Senior Project Manager.

From sketch to sign-off... genesis of a college


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“The new College project was extremely challenging and at the same time very rewarding. I am very proud to have been a part of the team that made it happen.”

Jeff HedleySenior Project Manager, Miller Construction


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The College will be an adult building that welcomes young peopleHartlepool College educates and trains many young people, but we are always mindful of the fact that we serve customers of all ages. We have carefully balanced the needs of every age to provide an adult professional environment that welcomes young people. The College’s design, surface finishes and colour of its social spaces and learning resources are subtle, welcoming and wholly encourage mature and respectful behaviour.Through effective partnership statutory requirements were blended with the College’s vision for how the final building would look and feel. This has led to the creation of a truly exceptional building where young people, apprentices, adult learners and international students mix freely without barriers. Recruitment of learners aged 16-18 has now surpassed the original growth expectation of 15%.

The College will reflect and embody professionalismThe College works extremely hard to deliver on every aspect of our operation. We do so with the very highest standards of customer care and professionalism. We have strict quality controls and safeguarding policies in place and the new building has been designed to maximise the efficiency and implementation of these procedures.

Quality assurance runs through everything that we do as an education and training establishment. Between the three main project partners we have achieved a range of quality assurance measures including Considerate Constructors, BREEAM Very Good, Investors in Diversity, Matrix and five National Skills Academies who recognise our quality and training (see back cover).

The building will be aspirational and this will be reflected in its finishes

The College actively encourages learners to achieve their potential in an environment in which they can focus and feel relaxed. The achievements of learners are routinely and prominently highlighted as examples of the standards all should aspire to and indeed often reach. All classrooms and teaching areas have significant amounts of glazing to showcase key facilities and teaching taking place. Student exhibition and demonstration projects, all with descriptive panels, are prominent throughout the College and currently include Paris 1.0, a precision-engineered Ball Bearing Sculpture project, a restored Lyra Baby Grand Piano and a restored 1946 MG TC classic car. These projects have proven to be of great interest to everyone from distinguished visitors (see page 3) and employers, to members of the public who patronise our services and, of course, our learners.

The building will be significant in the townscape and reflect its civic importanceThe building is the first contemporary building of significance that residents and visitors to Hartlepool encounter. It was vitally important that the design was clean, modern and attractive, providing a positive and lasting impression for the town. The College was carefully designed to be woven into the eclectic mix of styles and yet retains its own character.

Adam Jones, architect for Bond Bryan, said “Our brief was to provide a landmark building designed to inspire and motivate. I believe we have achieved this”.

Mayor of Hartlepool Stuart Drummond noted in his weekly column in the Hartlepool Mail, the town’s local paper, that “The College is world-class. I cannot come close to doing justice as to how magnificent and impressive it is.”

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Above and Below: The Skills Academy has extensive dedicated facilities in a number of fields, including an aircraft hangar for Aerospace courses. This is equipped with two ex-RAF Jet Provost T5 trainers, a Westland Gazelle helicopter and a Rolls-Royce Boeing 747 engine. Students also frequently visit RAF Leeming in Yorkshire, working with 100 Squadron RAF on their BAE Hawk fast jets and gaining priceless procedural and maintenance experience on active aircraft in an operational airfield environment.

Above and Below: Another major resource in the Skills Academy is the Automotive Engineering workshop, which is large enough to take over a dozen vehicles plus a wide variety of diagnostic, lifting, testing and maintenance equipment that easily matches the resources found in modern high-end garages. Three Nissan Qashqais, donated by the manufacturer, are a permanant fixture of the workshop, allowing students to gain hands-on experience of the latest automotive technologies.

Above and Below: the Learning Terrace is over 800m2 of open space, accessed through the Skills Academy. The main application is for training in Environmental Technologies, with wind turbine, heat pump, solar and photo-voltaic equipment positioned under the elements where it would be found in the world of work, though part of the area is also dedicated to open air sports and fitness activities.


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Skills-based activities will be visible throughout the buildingThe pride we take in what we deliver and what our customers achieve is immeasurable. This is something that we want others to see. When the building was in its planning stage we decided to use glazed areas, not only to provide energy saving, natural light but also to allow passers-by the opportunity to observe activities going on within.

All classrooms and teaching areas have significant amounts of glazing to showcase key facilities and the teaching and training taking place. This has embedded a culture of transparency and professionalism. Furthermore we have taken this approach “on the road”, providing World Skills “Have A Go” activities for attendees at the SkillsShow London 2011 and 2012.

The College will have a busy and diverse central atrium – more than simply the service sectorThe College atrium was designed as a hub through which all other areas can be accessed. It is bright, spacious and welcoming. Extending through all four floors it fulfils its remit splendidly and is always buzzing with activity. The design is flexible and compartmental in approach, allowing a number of individual aspects and resources to co-exist as part of a whole. Skills are regularly showcased in this prominent location.

The College will reflect an international outlookAmbitions should be limitless; many of our students have gone on to successful careers all over the world. The College’s international ambitions have made significant progress in recent years and the front of our building has been designed to reflect this through our prominent flag display. Thirty flagpoles flying 4m flags create a bold blaze of colour, serving to remind us of the diversity, knowledge and opportunities waiting. The display alternates between national and international flags, the College identity (see rear cover), and those of employers, partners and visitors when appropriate. During 2011 and 2012 the College has welcomed visitors from Europe, Africa and Asia and has hosted substantial training programmes for employers from Nigeria and Kuwait (see opposite page). International exchange has developed further with training organisations in France and Germany.

The College will be transparentThe atrium is at the ‘heart’ of the College, offering numerous vantage points into the open spaces running throughout the building, and views from corridors into classrooms.This philosophy extends all the way through the entire building, allowing visitors to observe and watch and sometimes just to take in the view from the balconies and bridges. This approach allows the environment to be adapted flexibly for specific events and purposes - for example, on our most recent Celebration of Achievement evening, the atrium balcony became a stage for a string quartet to best utilise the acoustics of the space.

Visitors regularly comment on how accessible it is to view our core business: teaching, training, learning and assessment.


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Above and Below: The College has delivered extensive training programmes to engineers from Kuwait (above) and Nigeria (below). Both sets of visitors were delighted with the standard of learning and facilities they were given, and also the warmth of the welcome they received. In turn, their presence allowed College staff and students to exchange first hand cultural knowledge and to compare work practices and procedures from other parts of the world.

Above and Below: The College’s dedicated conference facilities have allowed local businesses and organisations to host all manner of activities, accommodating everything from a simple meeting for two people to fully-catered events for hundreds. A good example of this is a recent symposium held by the NHS on the subject of Adult Safeguarding, where our various resources and technical support allowed a range of workshops and lectures to take place.

Above and Below: The extra space the building affords has allowed the College to take on contracts it could not have previously contemplated. Over one weekend in July 2012 we hosted Hornby Magazine’s annual Live! Show, which attracted 3,000 model train enthusiasts. The show featured 20 professional layouts and dozens of retailer stalls taking up almost the entire ground floor. Client and visitor feedback was excellent.


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The College willhave discrete dedicated areas forits specialismsCentres dedicated to specific skills and vocational areas have been established throughout the College, many with their own branding and identity. Centre-specific uniforms, designed internally in liaison with business and industry, are worn with great pride, such as the chef’s whites above. One of our suppliers was so impressed that they feature several in their international catalogue as examples of what they produce.

The Principal, Executive and management will be centrally located, visible and accessibleThe College Principalship and Executive teams are located in the very centre of the building, with easy access and an open door policy amplified by the philosophy of principle five - that everything we do is visible and transparent, irrespective of level and position. A central feature of this area is a balcony that allows for a view along both wings of the College, complete with a gallery of photography, providing a stimulating environment for people waiting for meetings and appointments. Students regularly relax in this comfortably furnished area outside “The Boss’s” office, making for a supportive, inclusive culture.

Staff and students will share a “learning core”The College was designed to have a clustered approach to its resources, allowing related areas and specialisms to be easily found, accessed and used. Staff centres are located adjacent to the Learner Core (pictured above), which runs for three levels through the centre of the building for maximum accessibility. Staff and students share and co-exist in this space, allowing for easy access to the materials and support they need.

As a consequence the standard of behaviour and conduct of students is very high. The College has not experienced any damage or vandalism in year one.

The College will showcase the skills of its learnersWe value what we accomplish, and display our resource and achievements to maximise impact. Accreditations and awards are displayed with pride as representations of the hard work it has taken to gain such acknowledgement. The College has a number of specialised areas such as renewable technologies, aerospace, engineering, health and sport amongst others. All have been designed for maximum visibility and contain high-profile resources that are displayed prominently. Employer participation has demonstrably increased, with notable new partners joining the College in the last 12 months. As a result high quality 16-18 Apprenticeship participation has grown by 20%.


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Above and Below: The College has several gallery and exhibition spaces dedicated to showcasing the work of our students. Some, such as Paris 1.0 (above), a kinetic sculpture engineered to show key principles of physics, are permanent installations. Others, such as our annual Design Show (below), are temporary, allowing us to update the content of each area as required and provide as broad a range of work and subject displays as possible.

Above and Below: The College’s commitment to sport extends well beyond just our sports courses, and all can join and participate. The “man of the match” in our recent victory in the 2012 County Football Cup (above) was actually an engineer. We are also a founding partner in the Hartlepool Sporting Association, which allows students to work and play with local clubs in a variety of sports (including disabled sports). Hartlepool Table Tennis Club, for example, make frequent use of our conference facilities (below).

Above and Below: The College’s employer engagement was rated as “outstanding” by OfSTED during our last inspection, and we work proactively to forge partnerships that afford our students valuable live experience in addition to our own resources. Recent examples include work with Husqvarna (above), Tallent Automotive and Barbour (below). The College has links with over 2000 companies.


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The building will be flexible enough to be curriculum future proof as far as possibleA number of the workshop areas have been designed to allow walling and floorspace to be altered to accommodate potential changes in the future. This design feature will allow for new developments and equipment to be integrated as they emerge, but without needing more permanent and expensive changes to infrastructure. In our first year one such work area was easily reconfigured to accommodate growth in process engineering due to employer demand for the College’s services.

The building will be environmentally positiveThe College has been designed to reflect environmental good practice, such as the prominent use of natural light. A computer-controlled building management system controls heating, ventilation and security. The building is self-learning in that it monitors energy consumption models and adapts the allocation of resources accordingly, allowing it to conserve energy in areas not in use. For example precision movement sensors automatically turn off lights in unoccupied rooms after a set period of inactivity.

The College is now home to the North East hub of the National Skills Academy - Environmental Technologies.

A world-class approach to safety will be adoptedIt goes without saying that we take responsibility for safety very seriously. The approach to standards has been completed for world-class employers such as Esterline, Caterpillar, TATA, Siemens, ABB and Babcock. We offer a number of courses in vocational areas that have potential hazards, so Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) is strictly controlled via a secure reception area into the Skills Academy. Changing facilities and PPE stores ensure that all who enter the area are properly protected and legally compliant. A Skills Café, located with the Academy, is another innovation shaped directly by student feedback. Students can remain in the Academy in their PPE without the need to change or leave the area to have their break. Visitors from companies such as Rolls-Royce, Conocophillips and EDF have complimented the College on this approach.

The College will be commercially flexibleThe ground floor of the north wing contains an impressive cluster of conference and meeting facilities available for hire, able to accommodate up to 400 people. Drawing on business and employer feedback, the Conference Centre contains six impressive rooms including a spacious boardroom and a 220-seat theatre with high definition projection and surround sound. Leading organisations such as PDPorts, Cleveland Fire Brigade, Cogent SSC, Huntsman, the NHS, TATA Steel, National Skills Academy - Nuclear and Hornby Model Railways have held or have planned events in this impressive facility.


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Above and Below: The Flagship is a gourmet restaurant operating on the ground floor of the College. Open to the public on a commercial basis, it also allows students to prepare and serve a variety of meals in a live environment, under the supervision of a dedicated Executive Chef and Front of House Manager. The restaurant opens for lunches, evenings and over weekends, and also provides corporate hospitality for conference events.

Above and Below: The Luminary Suite comprises of hair and beauty salons and also a fully-equipped fitness suite. All are open commercially and provide valuable training opportunities for students. The fitness suite especially has drawn a large and dedicated membership, offering the same facilities and personal fitness advice as “top brand” gyms but at a fraction of the cost. A state-of-the-art Sports Science Lab and CryoSpa have also attracted membership from numerous sports professionals.

Above and Below: The College’s commitment to environmental solutions has also been applied to a problem a lot of flat-roofed coastal buildings encounter - seagulls. In an innovative move, the College engages a falconer whenever a new generation of gulls is hatched to make them wary of approaching our roof. The falcons do not attack but rather intimidate, and once the gulls regard us as a no-go area falcon-shaped kites are deployed to continue the “patrol”.


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Hartlepool College of Further EducationStockton Street, Hartlepool, County Durham TS24 7NT01429 [email protected]

Excellence in Further and Higher Education

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hartlepool college: principles into practice

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