Bardsley Construction has staged a sod-cutting ceremony to mark the start of work on a £4.3 million extension to Bradford Academy in Yorkshire.

The 2,500 sq metre two-storey building will house 420 primary age pupils at the Academy and is due to be completed in July 2012.

Bardsley is working on the scheme in partnership with DLA Architects of Wakefield and the Leeds office of independent consulting engineers Curtins Consulting.

The sod-cutting ceremony was attended by Adrian Rooney, Yorkshire regional manager for Bardsley Construction, Linda Marshall, all-through principal of the Academy, Albert Price, retiring chair of governors of the Academy, Mark Scott, Employment and Skills Co-ordinator for YORbuild, Thomas Jones of Bradford City Council and pupils and parents.

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YORbuild is a series of collaborative construction frameworks for the procurement of new build, refurbishment and design build construction works for the Yorkshire and Humber region's 22 local authorities and other regionally based public sector bodies, including Third Sector organisations.

Bradford Academy replaced Bradford Cathedral Community College when it opened in September 2007 and now has about 1200 pupils aged from three to 18.

Adrian Rooney of Bardsley Construction said: "This is the first YORbuild scheme for Bardsley Construction and we very much look forward to providing state-of-the-art education facilities for the young people of Bradford.

"We are delighted to be working with Yorkshire architects and engineers and have liaised very closely with the Academy and the City of Bradford Council on the final design to ensure the project is delivered within an affordable budget, while maintaining a high standard of specification and finish.

"The contract builds upon our expertise in the provision of facilities for the public sector and in particular, school and college buildings throughout the North of England."

(CD/GK)