Work begins on student village
WORK started last month on the new 661-bed student village at Loughborough University - and now the Echo has been given a glimpse of what it will look like.
Leading project and cost management consultancy Faithful+Gould is managing the scheme which will see 617 new student beds delivered across nine blocks along with a central social ‘Hub’ building at its heart for informal meeting and flexible learning.
The Echo was told the star attraction will be the 44-bed Elite Athlete Centre Hotel, where 20 bedrooms will incorporate a unique pressurised air system to replicate high altitude/low oxygen conditions.
This aims to assist athletes’ training regimes and reinforce Loughborough University’s global position in attracting and developing the world’s best athletes.
A further feature of the development will be the innovative “active landscaping”.
Designed to promote residents and visitors to challenge themselves physically and move more using landscape features, the communal external areas will encourage people to engage in a variety of activities such as sprinting, step challenges, table tennis, balancing skills and jumping.
Tom Wallbank, Faithful+Gould’s head of cost management for the East Midlands and account director for Loughborough University, said: “This is a very innovative and important development for the university that we’re delighted to be involved.”
The Elite Athlete Centre and two of the student blocks are scheduled for completion by August 2018.
The remaining blocks and development are set to be completed by April 2019.