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Russell Group universities to spend £9bn on capital projects by 2017

By ucqbcme, on 29 May 2014

A new report for the Russell Group draws attention to 67 significant building projects being carried out across the group of 24 research-led universities (http://www.bdonline.co.uk/news/top-universities-outline-£9bn-development-pipeline/5068674.article).  The spending to 2017 covers facilities for research and teaching, science, technology and engineering campuses, student accommodation, business schools, and IT facilities. The impetus behind this growth and investment was identified by Dr Wendy Piatt, director general of the Russell Group, as being primarily international competition in the higher education market, pushing the UK’s universities to work harder to improve and maintain high quality facilities in order to attract the best overseas students, academics, and research staff. Tuition fees have raised students’ expectations of their university experience –  while universities are also under pressure to provide access to decent and affordable homes for staff priced out of the open housing market.

Tuition fees, especially the revenue generated by international students, have led to increased income for many (if not all) universities.  But, as Amanda Baillieu points out, writing in BDOnline today, the new funding stream is not necessarily leading to high quality new architecture in the university sector. She suggests university estate managers with a project management background are ‘not keen on competitions’ and unlikely to award a project to an architect without ‘the necessary PI cover’. As a result,  ‘the architecture is uninspiring, prosaic and capable of damaging the very image it’s trying to sell’ – as with Oxford University’s new Castle Mill student housing entered for BD’s Carbuncle Cup.

Baillieu suggests the new buildings are ‘safe and office-like which exactly fits universities’ business-like mindset’ – and also appeals to overseas students familiar with identical typologies in their home countries such as China and South Korea (http://www.bdonline.co.uk/comment/university-challenge/5068774.article).

On the other hand, the University of Manchester has just appointed the Dutch practice Mecanoo, supported by Penoyre and Prasad, as architects for its new £200m engineering campus, both of whom have established reputations for high quality architectural design. The outcome depends of course on what they are allowed to do. Meanwhile, the University of Cambridge is working with a whole range of design-focused architectural practices of different sizes, appointed through an elaborate competitive process, on its new residential and academic quarter in the city (North West Cambridge – http://www.nwcambridge.co.uk).

So there are some emerging precedents out there for a more aspirational model of new university design and construction. And one might assume too that prospective donors would be keen for assurance of a decent architectural return for their money before associating their name with a new university building, however good the facilities it may offer.

Plus, universities are viewed as increasingly important institutional actors in urban regeneration processes dismantled by cuts in funding from other sources. There is an expectation that, drawing on their substantial resources of knowledge and expertise, as well as access to finance, they could and should be establishing new benchmarks for high quality, sustainable urban interventions which both enhance the urban landscape and become the driver for wider social benefits beyond the immediate academic community. So, if we are about to witness a new ‘golden age’ (see Baillieu above) of university construction, let’s hope it will raise the bar for  standards across the whole field of urban development.

 

 

 

UCL moves forward with plans for Olympic Park site

By ucqbcme, on 28 February 2014

Following an announcement from Prof Steve Caddick, Vice President (Enterprise) at UCL (23rd January 2014  http://www.ucl.ac.uk/news/staff/staff-news/0114/23012014-viceprovost-view-olympic-park) the university is pushing ahead with plans to develop a new site within the Olympic Park perimeter. Construction could start as early as 2016, with initial phases scheduled to open from 2018 onwards.

The new proposals replace an older scheme for a £1bn development on the site of the Carpenters Road estate, which was shelved last year.

Under the new proposals UCL will take up residence alongside the V&A, in an area in the southern part of the site formerly allocated for housing, but now redefined as an ‘Olimpicopolis’ by the Mayor Boris Johnson – a 21st Century manifestation of the South Kensington ‘Albertopolis’ vision (the museum’s existing site named after Queen Victoria’s consort Prince Albert). The project is strongly supported by government and the Mayor of London, as an anchor for the Olympic legacy delivery.

A new Olympic Park Steering Committee has been established at UCL to formulate a clear academic vision for the components and functions of the new, smaller, development, with input from UCL’s academic community (http://www.ucl.ac.uk/olympic-park/your-ideas). As yet undefined, the uses on the 7-acre site will include staff and student housing and academic facilities. UCL’s Delivery Team is currently developing a Strategic Outline Case for presentation to Council for approval on March 25th. It is intended that a new masterplanning brief and invitation to tender will be in place by June, supported by  a commitment to a co-ordinated community engagement strategy, and the work already accomplished by UCL’s Public Engagement Unit, Urban Lab, and others in this field.

For further information and to take part in the debate:  Olympic Park Project website

UCL goes public on Olympic Park site

By ucqbcme, on 9 December 2013

 

UCL confirms development plans to create a new higher education cluster on Olympic Park

4 December 2013

Olympic ParkUCL has reaffirmed that it is continuing to develop plans for a new university quarter in Stratford, following publication of the Government’s National Infrastructure Plan today, setting out proposals to support creation of a major new higher education and cultural district on Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park.

UCL is currently consulting with staff and partners on the nature of activities that might be based away from its Bloomsbury base, while the Government’s plans would potentially see UCL and the Victoria and Albert Museum (V&A) build new sites adjacent to the Stratford waterfront.

Options under consideration include a new centre for culture and heritage, a design school, a new biotech hub and an educational technology centre, as well as a space for entrepreneurs.

“Exploring the establishment of a major new presence on the Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park is hugely exciting for UCL,” said Professor Steve Caddick, UCL  Vice Provost for Enterprise and lead on the Olympic Park project at UCL.

“East London has become a vibrant and dynamic place to live, work and start a business and we’re keen to do all we can to help accelerate the area’s growth and development by establishing a presence there.

“Investing in the Olympic Park has the potential to provide UCL with an unmatched opportunity to explore a whole new programme of activities – especially in areas involving collaboration with other organisations.

“We will be very actively exploring development of new partnerships with other universities, with business and industry and with cultural institutions and charities to establish East London as the global hotspot for enterprise, innovation, research and education. To those organisations who are interested in working with us, I say – get in touch.

“It is also vital that UCL’s presence is part of – and enriches – local communities in East London. As soon as we can we will be exploring options to work with the local community to offer cultural and business opportunities for residents, with the aim of improving quality of life and the economic prospects of the area for the long-term.”


Image: London 2012 Olympics Park Stratford London by Gary Bembridge (Flickr: Creative Commons Licensed Content)


Links:
Government infrastructure plan

Provost’s View: Our position in London