Harris Your Place Q&A Series: Aimee from Conlon Construction

A number of individuals and companies are responsible for the renovations currently taking place as part of the Harris Your Place project. This Q&A series sees us chat with those responsible about their involvement, and what their role is throughout the renovation project. 

Tell us a little more about your ties to Preston.

I live and work in Preston, I live over in Tarleton which is probably about 20 – 25-minute drive from here, and our head office is just around the corner from here in Bamber Bridge.  

Tell us a little more about the project you’re currently working on.

So, we’re currently working on The Harris Museum, a grade-1 listed building, which involves a lot of internal restoration work, scaffolding and cleaning of the exterior stonework. My role is Social Value Co-ordinator, so I’m collecting all the social value information regarding what’s going on on-site, keeping the information collated and forwarding it on to the relevant people.  

Tell us a little more about what you like best about this project.

Obviously, this is a huge job right in the heart of Preston, and it’s certainly a very interesting job with all the restoration work that’s taking place. With regards to this job, it’s generated a huge amount of social value, which is great. 

Tell us a little more about how you ended up working on this job.

I was doing a HNC (Higher National Certificate) in construction, and I finished last year, so I started working on this job for a couple of days a week around spring / summertime last year. With regards to social value, I collect this data across a number of projects.  

Is the company working with any schools/colleges/local suppliers?

Yes, we are, we’re working with Preston College, Balshaw’s High School, St Michael’s High School, Manchester School of Architecture, Eden Boys and UCLan, whether organising career talks or site visits. There’s been around 25 site visits in total.

Harris Your Place

Harris Your Place is a £16 million project set to restore and reimagine the Harris for 21st-century audiences as a cultural learning space. The aim of this project is to protect the building and the architecture for future generations whilst enhancing accessibility options and positioning the Harris as a community hub for Preston and Lancashire.

The capital project is more than simply preserving this much-loved building; Harris wants to ensure that it remains a vibrant heart of the community. A place where people want to spend their time.