Next phase in UCS campus developments go full steam ahead
Sep 7 2009 12:00AM
University Campus Suffolk (UCS) is celebrating today following confirmation of a grant to help fund the construction of the next academic building. A £4.6 million grant from HEFCE, along with generous donations from Ipswich Borough Council and Suffolk County Council (EEDA), will help fund the build of the second dedicated academic building for UCS students.
The University Quay site, which sits on the Ipswich Waterfront; 300 metres south of the landmark Waterfront building, comprises different elements which will be constructed over the next five years. This includes two student residences and a large, modular, academic building. The first block of residences, consisting of 600 student rooms, retail units and a UCS managed car park, is already under construction. This element of the work is being developed by the Watkin Jones Group.
Work will begin immediately and the first module of the new academic building will be completed in the Autumn of 2010, providing state-of-the-art accommodation for Health and Science students, as well as an innovative ‘iLab’, general teaching and study space and UCS Students’ Union facilities. Future modules are planned for 2012 onwards and will include an extensive library and learning resource centre, plus general teaching, specialist and further student facilities. The adjacency of the academic building and student residences (also scheduled for completion in 2010) will provide the opportunity for students to live, work and study in the rapidly transforming Ipswich Waterfront area.
The Campus is designed to provide optimum student safety and accommodate the changing ways in which students now study, including the need to access learning resources 24/7.
Neil Jackson, Director of Campus Development, UCS said: "I am extremely pleased that we can now proceed with the construction of the University Quay Academic Building development, this is the next major step in the creation of the UCS Ipswich campus. I am also pleased to be appointing Willmott Dixon as the main contractor. Willmott Dixon have a track record of very successful projects including the UCS Waterfront Building."
Martin Lardner-Burke of RMJM, the architects behind the project said "We are delighted to be involved in the ongoing successful development of the University Campus Suffolk. UQ1 provides yet another fantastic opportunity to provide a high quality education building with a vibrant, ground floor Student Union within the rapidly developing Ipswich Waterfront".