Henley Street Public Realm & HVM Measures, Stratford-upon-Avon

Fitzgerald were appointed to deliver high-specification paving installation in January 2020 for Stratford-upon-Avon Council. Over the 14-week period works includede the complex installation of the William Shakespeare statue and the introduction of 22 shallow mount decorative bollards to meet Hostile Vehicle Mitigation (HVM) measures at each end of Henley Street.

The £510k scheme was delivered under a JCT Option C contract and consisted of a full strip of multiple types of existing hard and soft landscaping elements and the repaving of 1800m2 of Henley street with high-specification Yorkstone and Kellen paving together with the installation of bespoke street lighting. We worked collaboratively with the client in the selection of materials, providing various samples and completing a value management exercise to ensure the overall affordability of the scheme, and oversaw the sourcing of paving from The Netherlands on a 12-week lead time.

The works also included the retainment and preservation of multiple existing trees along with the provision of new trees and street furniture. During construction it was important not to obscure views of the historic buildings and street scene for visitors. The team reviewed the existing lighting location layout with our supply chain partner Hilton Main to ensure that power supply could be efficiently provided from the feeder pillar to the individual lighting columns. Fitzgerald recommended to the client the undertaking of investigations of existing services and looked at options with the aim of making installation easier and took account of the council’s whole life costs and future maintenance plans.

In 2021 Fitzgerald were selected as a finalist in the ‘Project of the Year by a Specialist Contractor (subcontract up to £1m)’ category of the Construction News Specialists Awards, the only national awards that recognises the best specialist contractors from across the UK.