Former police station will house Institute of Technology

Progress was made last week, when SKDC approved planning permission and granted listed building consent on Stonebridge House which will house the new Institute of Technology (IoT) come October 2020.

Grantham College is part of the Lincolnshire IoT (LIoT) as it was successful in its funding bid to the Department for Education (DfE) back in April.

The focus of the LIoT is on Engineering, Food Manufacturing, and Computing. Grantham College & University Centre is due to receive capital funding of £2.62m for refurbishment and development of Stonebridge House as its IoT site.

This will afford more teaching spaces, equipment and resources, as well as the prestige, branding and attraction of Institute of Technology status.

As an IoT satellite, the college will expand its Higher Education provision in Engineering and Computing subjects. The DfE has necessarily embedded cross-college collaboration, widening participation, and employer engagement as prominent aspects of the IoT project. 

The college has appointed RG+P as Lead Design Architects, Thornton Firkin as Project Manager, BEC Consulting as Mechanical and Electrical Engineers and BSP Consulting as Structural Engineers.

Stonebridge was built by banker John Hardy in 1858 and remained in the family until 1931 when it was bought by Dorothy Schwind, daughter of brewer Col Hutchinson.

After the war it became Spittlegate Boys School, then became police headquarters in 1959 until 2007.

Demolition on site is due to start in January 2020 with refurbishment and completion of the build project due in October 2020.