A brickwork, scaffolding and drywall business has laid its one millionth brick (representing over 200km of bricklaying) at Lincoln’s prestigious new student village, St Marks.
Phoenix Brickwork was awarded a £4m masonry package in 2020 to deliver almost 1,400 student flats as part of a £75 million scheme.
Ten separate student accommodation buildings make up the project, which has been constructed on behalf of the University of Lincoln.
Christian Watson, Group Chairman of Phoenix Brickwork, which has its headquarters in Pinxton, said it had been a pleasure to work at the Lincoln site and said laying the one millionth brick marked a significant milestone.
He said: “This project has been an enjoyable one and that is why we wanted to celebrate laying a million bricks at St Marks.
“We have really enjoyed working alongside fellow construction giants to bring this development to life.”
Early work included the partial demolition of St Mark’s Retail Park, off Tritton Road, to create space for the new development.
The University of Lincoln said it needs the extra accommodation to meet anticipated future demand from existing and new students.
As well as the ten student accommodation buildings, the scheme will also deliver new retail and leisure, housing, a hotel, and improved parking. Once completed, the new properties will be managed and maintained by the university.
Keith Shipley and Karl Hunt, Site Managers for Phoenix Brickwork, have been instrumental in overseeing the company’s contribution to the development.
Keith Shipley said: “The new student housing in Lincoln is extremely impressive, and we have felt enormously proud to be involved.
“The team at Phoenix Brickwork have worked so hard on this development and it has been exciting to see the student accommodation take shape.”
In a statement, the University of Lincoln said: “The University of Lincoln continues to attract students from across the UK and around the world, underpinned by our record for teaching quality and an outstanding student experience.
“The St Marks student accommodation development will deliver a further step change in the availability of high quality, university-managed student accommodation in Lincoln and is proving to be in high demand.”
