UWE Bristol has unveiled how its new state-of-the-art engineering building could look in a series of striking images released by its design team.
Subject to planning consents, the multi-million pound building – with a mission to attract and inspire the engineers of the future – will be sited next to the recently-opened £55m Bristol Business School at the heart of UWE’s Frenchay Campus.
The university wants the 8,500 sq m building to help make it one of the top schools of engineering in the country when it opens to students and staff in 2020 while also helping ease the West of England’s engineering skills gap.
The design team behind the building – led by international architecture firm AHR, which has an office in Bristol – revealed artist’s impressions of the new facility. Contractor BAM will begin construction this summer.
More than 1,600 undergraduate and post graduate students, along with 100 academic and technical staff, will be based in the building.
It will house modern teaching and research facilities such as engine test cells, wind tunnels and dedicated learning spaces to accommodate a wide range of engineering disciplines including composite manufacturing, machining and metrology.
UWE vice-chancellor and president Professor Steve West, said: “These images help to bring to life this exciting new facility that will produce graduates with the right industry skills, experience and knowledge for the future.
“The building will help attract diverse, creative and innovative students to the engineering profession, address the future skills gaps in the region and respond to the emerging demand for engineering Degree Apprenticeships.”
Deputy dean of the Faculty of Environment and Technology, Tod Burton, said the building would support the university’s move to collaborative, problem-based learning, enabling students to develop the skills that the UK industry required to remain at the forefront of advancements in engineering.
It also continues UWE’s commitment to investing in its campuses and facilities. The university is also investing in Bush House, the Harbourside building it acquired that also includes the Arnolfini art gallery, and at its Glenside campus, where AHR has drawn up plans to transform the former laundry.
Last year it opened a £9m creative studies building on its Bower Ashton campus which houses industry standard production and post production facilities for film making, animation and photography.
