£22.5m LLC receives planning permission
Mon, 10 Sep 2012 16:10:00 BST
The facility will be operational by 2014
THE University of Huddersfield is poised to embark on its most complex building project yet, resulting in massive improvements to sports, leisure, learning and catering facilities. The University received planning permission today from Kirklees Council.
The dramatic, new, £22.5 million Learning and Leisure Centre (view the new Centre in 3D), occupying some 7,000 square metres, will have taken shape adjacent to Wakefield Road.
Work will begin with the demolition of the existing Shorehead Building. And after six phases of construction, designed to minimise disruption to university life, it will conclude in the spring of 2014. When the new building is operational, the existing University sports centre will be demolished and the site landscaped.
“For its size and complexity, this will be the largest and most complex project we have tackled on the campus,” says the University’s Deputy Director of Estates and Facilities, Alan Johnson, who will be project manager.
The new centre will stand on stilts and have four levels. The lowest will be the new sports hall, with a much greater range of facilities than the present building, including an eight-court hall, squash courts and fitness studios.
The next floor will have more than 1,000 square metres of social, catering and learning space with links through to the existing library. The new catering area will be much larger and more flexible than existing facilities. There will also be a new and expanded student services centre.
The frontage of the main entrance to University’s Central Services Building will be remodelled to allow access to the new building, the third floor of which will be new premises for the University’s Students’ Union. The top level will be a conference centre.
The architects for the new building will be Leeds-based Watson Batty and GB Building Solutions have been appointed as main contractor. The global company Mott MacDonald has been commissioned to carry out mechanical and electrical engineering design and performance services for the new centre.
