Morgan Sindall Construction has scooped four projects worth a combined value of £20 million by the National Highways as part of its office and depot upgrades.

The company was selected to complete the works which will take place at four sites within Area 9 which takes in the areas of Gloucester, Shropshire, Staffordshire, Warwickshire, West Midlands, Worcester and Herefordshire.

The development is part of the National Highways' plans to improve its depots throughout England. It will be the first time they adopt a ‘hub and spoke’ model, which will see them build or upgrade satellite offices at their roadside depot locations.

Work has already started at Warndon, which involves the refurbishment of the existing office area and provision of a refurbished car park area.

Morgan Sindall Construction will also begin work this month at Bescot, Doxey and Strensham depots.

At Bescot, a new two-storey office building will be provided with associated external works, including the removal of the existing buildings from site. Doxey also involves the provision of a new build two-storey office building with associated external works. Finally, Strensham includes a new build garage and salt barns with the refurbishment of the existing office and amenity space and the removal of the existing salt barn.

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The new buildings will serve a multiple purpose, housing the local operational teams, non-operational personnel and visitors. To enable a flexible and agile performance, the design of the ground floor focused on providing the operational staff with all necessary amenities to function effectively when in these buildings. A shared canteen will be installed to promote staff interaction and further integration and ensure there is knowledge of what each team is doing.

The contractor will work in collaboration with project manager Gleeds and architect Harris Partners as well as National Highways’ maintenance and response partner, Colas.

National Highways Head of Service Delivery, Colin Lowther, said: "Once the work is completed, the look and feel of the depots will change to appear more like a modern National Highways workplace enabling operational and non-operational staff as well as contractors to work more closely alongside each other and encouraging interaction and collaboration between the teams.

"It was important to us to not only improve the facilities for our staff and offer a flexible space but also to improve safety which is always our number one priority. Segregating vehicle movements between operational and office staff will help keep people safe at the depots.

"We are pleased to be working with Morgan Sindall Construction and our partners on this project and welcome, in particular, the commitment to reducing carbon where possible in carrying out the work."