£15m revamp of uni halls
HISTORIC FLORENCE BOOT STUDENT RESIDENCES FIRST IN LINE FOR ECO UPGRADES
A HALL of residence founded by Florence Boot - the wife of Boots the chemist founder, Jesse Boot is to receive an upgrade as part of a £15m investment by the University of Nottingham.
The university is providing students with newly refurbished, sustainable student accommodation on its University Park campus in an “ambitious programme of works” starting this month.
The refurbishment involves many environmentally friendly upgrades.
The historic Florence Boot Hall, which dates back to 1928, is the first to be refurbished. It was the first all-female hall at the university.
The building has been closed for the first time for the comprehensive refurbishment. Work on the 200-bed residences will include overhauling the fabric of the building, installing new en suite and shared bathrooms and updating the interior.
It is the first phase of the University’s plans to regenerate all of its student accommodation.
Professor Todd Landman, Provice-chancellor for the Faculty of Social Sciences at the University, is leading the project.
He said: “We are delighted to commence the refurbishment of our heritage student accommodation Florence Boot Hall. The project team has engaged in a meticulous planning process with wide consultation across the University community in line with our Estates Development Framework, our sustainability commitments, and our commitment to our students.
“The newly refurbished hall will offer our students accessible, comfortable, digitally enabled, and modernised accommodation that also embraces the history and tradition of the hall.”
Clegg Construction has been assigned to carry out the works on Florence Boot.
Triple-glazed windows will be fitted that are designed to be in keeping with the original design of the building.
Other environmentally friendly works on the new building include air-source heat pumps, a slate roof to duplicate the existing tiles and LED lighting throughout, reducing the carbon footprint on site.
Sam Parker, Project Manager at Clegg Construction, said: “The halls will have special significance for university students who arrive here and the building itself will benefit from additional bedspace, original and rejuvenated features, and improved heating and lighting.”
The work is set to be completed in time for the start of the 20222023 academic year.