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Work starts on Preston’s new engineering centre on university campus

Posted on - 14th November, 2016 - 7:00am | Author - | Posted in - Business, Preston News, Redevelopment, UCLan, University campus
From left to right: David Taylor, Pro-Chancellor and Chair of the UCLan Board, Motorsports Engineering student Adam Ludgate, Northern Powerhouse Minister Andrew Percy MP, Motorsports Engineering student Dominique Roberts and UCLan Vice-Chancellor Professor Mike Thomas.

From left to right: David Taylor, Pro-Chancellor, Motorsports Engineering student Adam Ludgate, Northern Powerhouse Minister Andrew Percy MP, Motorsports Engineering student Dominique Roberts and UCLan Vice-Chancellor Professor Mike Thomas.

Not an artist impression in sight as the first step in a new £30m engineering centre for Preston has begun.

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The University of Central Lancashire is building its flagship Engineering Innovation Centre on the Foster Building car park facing into the Adelphi roundabout.

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Spades were in the ground as the Northern Powerhouse Minister Andrew Mercy MP visited UCLan to mark the construction phase underway.

The engineering centre is due to be open during 2018 and will see 500 students graduate each year across a range of technical courses.

Pro-chancellor and chair of the UCLan board David Taylor said: “We are delighted that Andrew could join us today to officially mark the development phase of our £30 million plus Engineering Innovation Centre.

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“The University is poised to become a real leader in engineering innovation, providing a world-class facility for young people to realise their potential, and the lifeblood for the North West region to maintain its position as the powerhouse of engineering and manufacturing in the UK.”

How UCLan's new engineering centre will look when finished

How UCLan’s new engineering centre will look when finished

Read more: New pictures show how UCLan’s Adelphi Square is to look

The engineering centre is the first stage of a £200m revamp of the central Preston campus for the university – with Fylde Building already knocked down to make way for a huge new building connected to the current library.

Vice-chancellor of the university Professor Mike Thomas said: “Beginning work on the EIC building signifies a key phase of the UCLan Masterplan that will spark regeneration and business investment in the University quarter of the City, with wider benefits for Preston and the region.”

One of the new teaching spaces in the engineering building

One of the new teaching spaces in the engineering building

The visit of Andrew Percy MP came a week after UCLan announced it had become one of a raft of new businesses and organisations to sign up to the Northern Powerhouse.

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Mr Percy MP said: “Building the Northern Powerhouse is central to our plans to create an economy that works for everyone.

“We’re backing the North with the investment and powers it needs to fulfil its huge untapped potential and I’m pleased to see businesses here, working alongside the Lancashire LEP, are pledging their support.”

Read more: UCLan appears in global university ranking for the first time

What do you think of the new engineering building? Do you study or work at UCLan? Let us know your views in the comments below

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