Bouygues UK has broken ground at the Barry Waterfront Campus and the Advanced Technology Centre for Cardiff and Vale College (CAVC).
The project milestone was marked with an event at Barry Waterfront Campus, which is being built on a brownfield site in the heart of Barry’s Waterfront Innovation Quarter. It will be transformed into a further education facility and community college.
Barry Waterfront Campus forms one element of the college’s £119m investment in the future of skills for the Vale of Glamorgan, working in partnership with the Vale of Glamorgan Council and the Welsh government.
The 6,000 sq m Barry Waterfront Campus will offer a range of facilities and courses for young people and adults to develop new skills or progress in their careers.
The second campus – the Advanced Technology Centre, located at Cardiff Airport – will welcome nearly 2,000 full and part-time learners and sit alongside CAVC’s International Centre for Aerospace Training.
The new facility will feature flexible classrooms and workshops, a higher education business centre, an advanced composites manufacturing hub, robotics and mechatronics labs, and a dedicated ‘green skills’ house.
The project is being delivered through the Welsh government’s Sustainable Communities for Learning Programme. Both campuses are due to open in summer 2027.
Delivering social value
As part of the project’s social value focus, Bouygues UK is engaging with students, upskilling the local supply chain, and creating apprenticeships, training and employment opportunities for local people. The team has so far engaged with 600 pupils and provided 800 weeks of employment and training.
In partnership with Cardiff and Vale College, Bouygues UK is delivering a Student Ambassador programme giving 10 students the opportunity to gain insights into the project through the construction period and play a part in the development of the two campuses.
Mark Cesenek, Bouygues UK’s managing director for Wales and the south west, said, “Breaking ground on these exciting and innovative builds marks the start of something truly special.
“Although today marks our official groundbreaking, we are proud to have made good progress, including ground remediation work, concrete piles and foundations, with precast cores and steel frame being the next major activity over the coming months. In the coming weeks, the steel frames will begin to rise from the ground, bringing this development to life.
“Education projects are particularly rewarding because we know they’ll benefit young people for generations to come, and we can’t wait to see students walking through these doors in 2027.”
