Contractor announced for School of Architecture on £100m Springfield site
The University of Wolverhampton has appointed a main build contractor for its new School of Architecture and the Built Environment at its £100 million Springfield Campus.
Global construction company ISG has been awarded the contract to build the flagship facility on the campus, with work starting this month.
West Midlands-based firm Associated Architects has designed the new School, which centres around the original clock tower building and combines it with a striking large new build element.
The design aims to keep as much heritage as possible and add stunning new buildings which reflect the site’s historic industrial surroundings.
The iconic clock tower building will be restored and a new building wrapped around it. At its heart will be a naturally lit open atrium spanning three floors, covered by a glass roof lantern.
The 85,000 sq ft (7,900sqm) build will use a mix of pre-cast white concrete, bronze metal cladding and glazing. An impressive saw-tooth roof will echo the historic industrial buildings that stood on the site.
Inside the building there will be specialist teaching and social learning spaces, design studios, specialist labs, multi-disciplinary workshops, lecture theatre, café, offices, meeting rooms, ICT rooms and a top floor super studio with double height ceilings.
Outside will be a landscaped piazza and courtyard linking the new school together with the rest of the site and the historic outer brick façade will be retained.
When completed, it will provide space for nearly 1,100 existing students and 65 staff, with the number of students projected to grow over time to 1,600.
The school will specialise in supporting skills in architecture, construction, civil engineering, building control, building services, facilities management, quantity surveying, planning, construction management, housing and commercial. It will also house a brownfield research centre.
A new National Brownfield Institute has also been earmarked for Springfield Campus.
Deputy vice-chancellor Jackie Dunne, who is the university’s project lead for Springfield, said: “The School of Architecture and Built Environment is the flagship build of the first phase of the redevelopment of Springfield.
“We’re delighted to have appointed ISG and are looking forward to work starting and seeing the site and this part of the city being transformed.
“We’re really excited about this project. It will be a stunning addition to the University’s estate and provide first-class state-of-the-art facilities for students studying with us in these disciplines. Our vision is for Springfield Campus to be THE place people associate with architecture and the built environment and it will offer an unrivalled source of knowledge, research and expertise for the sector.”
Wayne Flannery, ISG’s regional director, said: “Helping to deliver on the University of Wolverhampton’s vision for a dedicated centre of excellence for built environment learning is highly motivating for our team. It’s inspiring to work collaboratively with a customer so focused on creating the very best facilities for students to excel in their studies, and the attention to detail and design ethos of this new building is an excellent case study for generations of students to come.
“This project and the wider development will undoubtedly act as the catalyst for the wider redevelopment of Wolverhampton’s Canal Side Quarter.”
The plans for the School of Architecture form the largest part of the first phase of the £100m redevelopment of the site to create the Springfield Campus. The aim is that it will be delivered in Spring-Summer 2020.
It will join the West Midlands University Technical College, which opened in January 2017, and the Elite Centre for Manufacturing Skills Hub, which was officially opened this month.
The 12 acre Springfield Campus will be a centre of excellence for the built environment, construction and high value manufacturing to be delivered by the university and its partners.
The project is being managed by Rider Levett Bucknall. The design team is also made up of conservation advisors Rodney Melville & Partners, mechanical and engineering by Couch Perry Wilkes, quantity surveying by Faithful and Gould and structural and civils engineer Atkins, which will also provide landscape architecture.
