MIRA LIF2 Interchange Works

Fitzgerald has successfully delivered a new infrastructure scheme at MIRA Technology Park in Nuneaton. The £4.5m project saw extensive drainage and earthworks, the creation of state-of-the-art road infrastructure and a new security interchange. The works will pave the way for further development that will include several new customer facilities and high-quality office and research and development facilities, encompassing 72,000 square feet of space. The scheme will increase vehicle capacity, streamline deliveries, and enhance the overall visitor experience at the world class engineering, testing and research facility that is the leading global location for sustainable mobility innovation.

The project has followed on from our previous work at MIRA to upgrade the existing site access and provide a new spine road during the first phase of infrastructure delivered in 2016. The works involved two phases. Phase One, completed in November 2023, comprised enabling works, including extensive drainage, site clearance, demolition, surveys and investigations. Phase Two involved creating the new road infrastructure and laying the foundation for a new Welcome Centre to replace the current gatehouse.

An intense period of Early Contractor Involvement ensured a final scheme that could be delivered within the budget constraints whilst fully achieving MIRA’s aspirations. We aligned project delivery with MIRA’s biodiversity, environmental and sustainability commitments, which included supporting their efforts to achieve the King’s Award for Sustainable Development in May 2024 as well as the Wildlife Trust’s Biodiversity Benchmark in July 2024.

Key challenges included:

Environmental mitigation: During the enabling works, our site team worked closely with MIRA and ecologists, Middlemarch Environmental Ltd, to ensure works were undertaken in an environmentally sensitive manner. Bat surveys and inspections were undertaken by hand on cottages, garages, and farm barns before demolition. Across the five-week programme, we used cherry pickers to enable roofing materials on each building to be removed by hand by operatives under the supervision of licensed bat workers. Nine bats, including several different species, were discovered during the inspections. All were safely removed, placed in bat boxes on site and relocated. Two maple trees, originally planted as memorials, were relocated within the existing site using a tree spade. The works were undertaken under a Great Crested Newt Licence, with two great crested newts discovered during 30-day trapping activity undertaken across the site. Ecologists translocated the newts to a formed pond within the MIRA site.

Sustainability: The reuse of existing soils and demolition waste maximised sustainability and minimised waste. Demolition waste was crushed and graded for reuse as the capping material for the new highway.

Minimising impacts on site occupants: Works were meticulously planned and phased in conjunction with MIRA to maintain access arrangements and the operational capacity of the facility.

Future-proofing design: The works provided serviced infrastructure to future plots at various stages of design development. We worked closely with MIRA and multiple design teams, working-up a number of options and iterations to ensure the scope of the final scheme matched the site-wide masterplan and budget constraints.  

The project was completed in July 2024 – on time and on budget and to the satisfaction of our client.   

“From a delivery standpoint, the Fitzgerald team on site has been first-rate. Their proactive approach to communication, led by Contracts Manager, Morgan Courtney, and Project Manager, Ed Reilly, has seen collaborative agreements on traffic management plans which has minimised disruption and the number of complaints crossing my desk. I can honestly say that the Fitzgerald team have been the best I have worked with in the last 10 years of the development of our site.” Mark Rogers, Facilities & Maintenance Manager, HORIA MIRA.