£20m Uni revamp complete
Work carried out on two key campus buildings
A NATIONAL construction contractor has completed a £30m refurbishment project at Loughborough University.
Henry Brothers, which has its Midlands office in Beeston, Nottinghamshire, has completed work on two key buildings on the campus.
It was one of the biggest refurbishment projects ever completed at the university, and was carried out in 19 different phases over more than two years - allowing staff and students to carry on with their work throughout.
The project included the complete internal refurbishment of the 1960s built W - or Sir David Davies building - and the neighbouring S building, which are connected by a bridge in the West Park area of the campus.
The scheme involved upgrading labs, offices, study areas, lecture theatres, kitchens, toilets and refreshment areas to create light, airy and modern amenities, with new equipment, first-class teaching and learning facilities, and break-out spaces.
In all, more than 183,000 sq ft of space over three floors was refurbished and modernised.
Sir David Davies houses chemistry and physics within the School of Science, along with the Wolfson School of Mechanical, Electrical and Manufacturing Engineering, which is one of the biggest engineering schools of its kind in the UK.
It is also one component of the new School of Architecture, created as a direct response to the changing needs of architectural practise.
The S building houses Materials and Chemical Engineering and is also the home of the Loughborough Materials Characterisation Centre, which provides analytical services to support university research and consultancy services for business.
The buildings remained in occupation during the refurbishment, which was the latest in a number of projects undertaken by Henry Brothers at universities in the East Midlands and follows the £17 million STEMLab project at Loughborough University, a multidisciplinary science and engineering teaching building completed in 2017.
Henry Brothers Midlands managing director Ian Taylor said: “Every member of the team involved in the refurbishment of the W and S buildings can be truly proud of what has been achieved at this site.
“It really is a top-class refurbishment scheme which has transformed a pair of 1960s buildings into two high-quality facilities, which are a fantastic environment in which to research, teach and learn
“When working in a live environment there are naturally constraints but in close conjunction with Loughborough University, the work was carefully planned to avoid disruption to the students’ studies.
“On occasions, this meant using a non-traditional construction approach.
“The team at Henry Brothers is absolutely delighted to have handed over two outstanding facilities, on time and within budget, following this extensive and challenging refurbishment project, which has been successfully carried out over more than two years and which has now provided an environment for students, researchers and staff that really is inspirational.”
The work at both buildings included a complex overhaul of the mechanical and electrical services and full internal refurbishment.
The Henry Brothers’ team included East Midlands-based
Franklin Ellis, which provided architectural and interior design services for the scheme, and structural engineer BSP Consulting, which has offices in the East Midlands and Sheffield.
The client team included CPMG as concept architect, Faithful & Gould for cost management, and M & E engineers WYG.
Shaun Green, project manager for Loughborough University, said: “The W&S project has been very challenging, and, running over two and a half years, one of the largest refurbishment projects ever carried out at Loughborough University.
“The facilities development team have worked very closely with Henry Brothers to achieve two outstanding buildings with first-class facilities for teaching and research.
“Henry Brothers managed the project very well and delivered the new facilities to a high standard, whilst also maintaining an excellent health and safety record during the programme of works.”
Professor Rachel Thomson, academic lead for the project at Loughborough University said: “We are absolutely delighted at the transformation of these two buildings.
“I have heard from many staff that their working environment is now transformed, with greater opportunities for networking and a significant enhancement to our research capability.
“It has also been fabulous to see how our students have reoccupied the informal spaces across both buildings, which is important for our learning community. We appreciate all the support from Henry Brothers, the architects, the QS and the contractors in realising our vision.”