News

Flagship building takes shape

A flagship new lecture hall, with two new theatres capable of holding 500 people each, is being built on campus.

It heads an extensive building programme designed to provide additional and improved research, teaching and office space.

Described by the Director of Estate Management, Andrew Nightingale, as the most important new building on campus since the library was constructed, the new lecture hall will stand on the hillside between the visitors’ car park and the lake. It will be linked to Square 5 by a footbridge.

Capable of being combined into a single 1,000-seater theatre for Degree Congregations, making it one of the largest lecture theatres in UK higher education institutions, the building will also have removable seating to allow the floor space to be used for examinations and exhibitions.

An artists impression of the lecture hall

The £6 million project, which has attracted significant funding from the Higher Education Funding Council for England, is due to open for the 2006 autumn term.

Mr Nightingale said: ‘It is a state-of-the-art stainless steel building. It will be accessible from the car park, and will be the first building on campus that is outward looking as wells as looking in on the squares.’

Work will also start on site this term to build a new social sciences research centre, to house the Institute for Social and Economic Research (ISER) and the UK Data Archive.

Located on the north side of campus, it will be linked to the current social sciences building and have a bridge link through to Square 2.

Foundation work gets underway.
Photograph courtesy of the East Anglian Daily Times

With funding of £5.5 million coming from the Science Research Investment Fund, the £6.9 million project is due to be completed during 2006.

The new University of Essex Southend building, on the site of the old Odeon cinema, is now underway and the University expects to be operating from the Southend Campus by the end of 2006.

Work is also taking place at East 15 Acting School in Loughton to create space for its new stage combat course. A new radio studio has also been provided.

Two further major capital projects are being planned on the Colchester campus, to create dedicated space for the expanding Department of Health and Human Sciences, and to provide new laboratory and research space for the Department of Psychology by extending the Square 1 building.

An extension to the Health Centre is also planned, and the conversion of LTB10 to provide a cinema for the Department of Literature, Film, and Theatre Studies.

Photograph courtesy of the East Anglian Daily Times

Work taking place during a busy summer for the Estate Management Section has included an extension to the SX Express restaurant, refurbishment of former Electronic Systems Engineering space to provide practical training rooms for the Department of Health and Human Sciences, and refurbishment of the former Information Systems Services and Finance space between Squares 1 and 2 for the Department of Computer Science.

Smaller projects to improve facilities for students have included replacement of machines in the Hexagon launderette, kitchen refurbishments in Bertrand Russell Tower and Isaac Rebow House, and bathroom refurbishments at Avon Way.

Vice-Chancellor Professor Ivor Crewe (centre) is joined by staff from Hutton Construction and Andrew Nightingale, Director of Estate Management (second from left) and Christopher Pertwee, Chair of the
 Building Sub-Committee

Further funding for Suffolk university

University Campus Suffolk (UCS) received a financial boost in September with a further £12.5 million grant from the East of England Development Agency (EEDA).

Although the award remains subject to authorisation from the government, the grant has been hailed as great news by partners in the project.

Carol Macaskill, Project Manager for UCS, said: 'We are delighted to receive continued, significant support from EEDA for this unique collaboration between the Universities of East Anglia and Essex. EEDA's support will allow the project to proceed with plans for the county-wide learning network and the landmark development on the Ipswich waterfront, and assists the project partner, Suffolk College, in its aim for a newly rebuilt further education college by 2008. All of this will help to ensure the place of UCS in realising Suffolk's economic development potential, as well as providing exceptional opportunities for students and for businesses to benefit from the presence of a major new higher education partner.'

A series of roadshows will take place across Suffolk over the next year, giving people the chance to find out more about the progress of the UCS plans. Business breakfasts, events for school and college students and public meetings will take place focusing on a specific town each month. The first three roadshows will take place in Haverhill, on 20 October, Lowestoft, on 8 November, and Bury St Edmunds, on 7 December.

For further information see www.ucs.ac.uk.

A night to remember

A married couple who met during the first days of the new University of Essex in 1964 will be among more than 20 founding students returning to the campus for a 40th anniversary reunion.

The event takes place on Saturday 22 October at Wivenhoe House Hotel, used as a teaching and administration building for the first intake of 122 students while the new university campus was being constructed.

First the former students will be taken on a campus tour, to revisit old haunts and see how the University has changed.
This will be followed by a drinks reception – and the chance to view a ‘memories gallery’ of old photographs and stories – before dinner, which is being hosted by Vice-Chancellor, Professor Ivor Crewe.

Organiser Dominic Boyd, Head of Development and Alumni Relations, said: ‘It is wonderful to invite so many of our founding students back to Essex – for several it will be their first time back on campus since their graduation almost 40 years ago.

‘It is important that we recognise the contribution this pioneering group of students has made to the University.’

The event is open to all founding staff and students, to book telephone 01206 873412.

Also in the printed October edition of Wyvern:

• Thumbs up for Essex students
• Thousands raised for cancer research
• Packed schedule for SU