Resilience, redesign, and ready to build!

It’s time for a quick update on what’s happening behind the scenes at Marchwell Studios—and as always, we want to keep our community informed and involved. In March 2025, we went out to tender for the groundworks package for the site. Unfortunately, the tenders came back significantly over budget and significantly higher than the original estimate. This setback was caused by several factors, including:

• A shortage of available groundworkers in the region
• Global economic uncertainty, including the impact of US trade issues
• The complexity of the initial groundworks design

While it was disappointing, we’ve been here before, and we know that setbacks often lead to more innovative solutions…..This is the voluntary sector after all…

Since March, our brilliant team at Temple Ford and KSP has been working closely with M&E designers to value engineer the groundworks, identifying where meaningful cost savings can be made without compromising the quality or vision for the development.

In May 2025, we will issue a revised, comprehensive tender package for the entire development, including the revised groundworks. We’ve reissued the tender to the chosen suppliers and expect to receive the new tenders by the end of the month. Once received, we’ll review and decide on who to take forward.

Yes, it’s a delay—and yes, it’s been challenging —but it’s also a necessary step in delivering a brilliant, long-term creative space that works for everyone. At CCDT we are nothing if not resilient, and we genuinely believe this will be worth the wait.

Stay in touch: You can always reach us at hello@themarchwellstudios.com
And keep your eyes peeled—we’ll be sharing more updates very soon.