Chris Oldham, our Director of Estates and Campus Services, tells us about the exciting new projects that are springing up across our University estate.
Our University is growing. With increasing student and staff numbers, we have a host of capital projects either under construction or in development; all of which are designed to help us deliver additional space and facilities to meet the needs of our growing population.
The STEM centre will transform Square 1 into a dedicated science square with new versatile collaborative learning spaces and interdisciplinary teaching facilities including a 180 seat wet lab and a 200 seat IT-rich exploratory learning space. This new building will be ready to move into over the summer of 2018 and will be operational by September 2018.Take a look at the latest site photos on flickr.
Our new Science Technology Engineering and Maths centre on Square 1 will be ready to move into this summer.
The Innovation Centre is set to open its doors in 2019, enhancing the established business community on the Knowledge Gateway and joining more than 20 small businesses at Parkside Office Village. The centre is at the heart of our Knowledge Gateway masterplan, in which we envisage 2,000 people working there in the future, drawn not just by the excellent business accommodation, but also the business and academic support and on-campus resources and facilities provided by our leading research-intensive university. The Innovation Centre will enhance our commitment to linking our academic and research activities to our corporate business.
Our Innovation Centre
Redevelopment of student facilities on our Loughton campus. The extension of the main building at Hatfield Campus is under construction and will house a larger refectory and a combined IT and Library hub.
The Essex Sport Arena, our new, competition standard sports facility, enjoyed its official opening in January, attended by gymnast Max Whitlock and our own Chancellor The Rt Hon John Bercow. The new facility, the biggest of its kind in the county, provides space for 12 badminton courts, three basketball courts, three netball courts or five volley ball courts as well as providing a new home for our Sport, Rehabilitation and Exercise Science department.
The Copse, our new Colchester campus student accommodation, is set to provide 643 en-suite rooms and studios, just a short walk from the heart of Colchester Campus.
Developments in the pipeline include:
- More teaching centres to increase our teaching space and an academic building to provide a new home for one of our largest academic departments.
- Expansion of Parkside Office Village to accommodate more business tenants.
- Innovation Centre Phase 2 designs are progressing. Expansion of the site will create further space for business start-ups.
- A feasibility study has been commissioned on a new multi-decked car park.
- Site consolidation on our Loughton campus will allow us to move out of Roding House and Unit 4.
- With the growth in student numbers, we are investigating possibilities for more new student accommodation. We are aiming to build a further 1,100 bed spaces in the coming years.
