Mace has picked up a bumper project that was left in limbo after ISG’s collapse in September.
The contractor will finish the work ISG began on a neuroscience building for University College London (UCL).
ISG was appointed to the £300m job, at 256 Grays Inn Road, in 2019 – and it was initially set for completion last year. ISG managed to top out the site in May 2023, but then collapsed into administration in September, landing the project and many others in limbo.
A spokesman for UCL said at the time that ISG’s insolvency was “disappointing news”, but that it had contingencies in place for the eventuality.
In a statement released on Monday (11 November), Mace said it was appointed to complete the job “after a robust procurement and selection process, with quality as the top priority”.
“Over the next three months, Mace will carry out a detailed review of the site before the terms of its appointment are finalised, as well as a revised schedule with a planned completion date,” it added.
Mace will also work with the university to explore a “potential role for incumbent suppliers” during the three-month review and subsequent build project, it added.
Once complete, the 17,500 square metre site will be home to the UCL Queen Square Institute of Neurology, the UK Dementia Research Institute and an outpatient unit for the University College London Hospitals National Hospital for Neurology and Neurosurgery.
It will house up to 1,000 scientists, clinicians and patients across seven storeys of shared labs, workspaces, consulting rooms and collaboration spaces. It will also house a 220-seat lecture theatre and an MRI suite with five scanners.
The project cost has increased by £18m since it first got planning permission back in September 2019.
Mace Construct managing director for the public sector and life sciences Robert Lemming said: “We recognise the significance of this facility in advancing neurological research and treatment, and we are committed to ensuring its successful completion.”
UCL dean for the faculty of brain sciences, professor Alan Thompson, said: “This extraordinarily complex and ambitious project will play a critical role nationally and internationally in transforming patients’ lives and I’m looking forward to beginning work on the final stage and seeing the project come to fruition.”
The site is the latest in a number of projects awarded by the university to Mace. Last year the contractor completed work on the £200m Marshgate campus, which opened later in the year.
When it went under, ISG was working on multiple projects that were stopped immediately. Last month, Nottingham-headquartered Universal Civils & Build was appointed to finish a leisure centre in Chesterfield, which ISG was initially appointed on in 2023.
ISG was the sixth biggest contractor in the UK when it went under. Last month administrators for the company announced that it owed more than £301m to its supply chain when it collapsed.
