Architects have been chosen to create a new state-of-the-art engineering building on Preston’s university campus.
AdvertisementSimpsonHaugh and Partners have been picked to design the £30 million Engineering Innovation Centre which is to be built on the Foster Building car park near the Adelphi roundabout.
The University of Central Lancashire says the confirmation of architects, including Reiach and Hall Architects BDP, who will provide engineering expertise, is the first step in a £200 million redevelopment of the city campus.
UCLan’s director of facilities management Paul Morris said: “I am delighted to announce that after a very competitive tendering process the appointment of SimpsonHaugh with Reiach and Hall as the architects and BDP as the engineers for the UCLan EIC building.
“The quality of all the bids was high and reflects the level of interest in our exciting and ambitious plans to create a facility that will act as a national centre of excellence for advanced engineering teaching, research and knowledge exchange with industry. We are looking forward to working with SimpsonHaugh, Reiach and Hall and BDP to bring our plans to fruition.”
The revamp of the campus includes the demolition of the Fylde building and an ambitious reshaping of the Adelphi roundabout.
A spokesperson for SimpsonHaugh said: “We are delighted to have been appointed for the Engineering Innovation Centre project for the University of Central Lancashire.
“The architect team is led by SimpsonHaugh and Partners who have established a collaboration with Reiach and Hall Architects. We have known each other since our combined bid for the Commonwealth Games athlete’s village in Glasgow and are delighted to have secured such a prestigious commission together. Our combined offices bring detailed local knowledge and civic buildings experience together with tertiary education and research buildings expertise.
“The project is significant for our team for many reasons, not least because it is the first building to emerge from the Allies and Morrison masterplan of the campus and we are looking forward to creating a new building for the University that sets the quality benchmark for the developments that follow. We hope to deliver the University a building they are proud of, that helps their researchers and encourages engagement with higher education.”
A spokesperson for BDP said: “BDP was founded in Preston over 50 years ago by Sir George Grenfell Baines who studied at the University from 1922-1928. As such, this project and also working with UCLan is important to the BDP engineering team and we look forward to developing a state-of-the-art, sustainable engineering facility that we can all be proud of.”
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