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Northumbria University to improve campus buildings with £52m investment

Northumbria University will invest £52m to improve its campus in Newcastle city centre over the next two years.

The area around Northumbria’s Students’ Union and Library will be transformed to create a new Student Central zone that will bring together all student-facing services, such as careers, welfare and international support to one area in the heart of the campus.

Two new buildings will also be constructed to bring benefits for students on computing and information sciences and architecture and built environment courses.

The University will demolish its Rutherford Hall to create a new building for computing students. With a design inspired by the father of computing, Charles Babbage, it will be equipped with the very latest industry-standard technologies.

In addition, the historic 18th century Sutherland Building will be transformed with the addition of a modern, yet sympathetically designed, extension to create a bright and airy building with improved studio spaces for the School of Architecture.

The Ellison Building is being refurbished to bring in new cutting-edge laboratories and facilities for the 3,500 students studying science, technology, engineering and maths subjects. This includes significant investment in new technologies including a wind tunnel, an engine test cell facility, 3D printers and a scanning electron microscope.

New world-class learning, teaching and research spaces are intended for students on humanities and social sciences courses. Plans to extensively upgrade and refit the 1970s Lipman Building are currently being developed with staff and students.

Finally, the Pandon Building, which is currently home to students on computing courses, will also be transformed over the next 18 months to become a dedicated base for staff working in the University’s professional support services.

A number of Northumbria’s graduates who now work in leading architecture and construction firms will be involved in the development, using the skills they learned at the University to create the new spaces to benefit current and future students.

Northumbria University’s Vice-Chancellor and Chief Executive, Professor Andrew Wathey CBE, said: “In recent years we have launched an ambitious new strategy to transform the University, and have made radical change in our research performance, our student recruitment and experience, alongside significant steps in our partnerships regionally, nationally and internationally. Now is the time to create the environment we need to achieve our vision for 2025, and beyond.

“This investment will sustain a world-class campus for Northumbria that will lead to improvements in student satisfaction and more effective ways of working, and support our evolution into a new kind of excellent university.”

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