Exeter residents invited to learn more about plans for a pioneering new research building in the city
The University of Exeter is seeking local peoples’ thoughts on plans for a new research and teaching facility designed to address some of the most pressing issues facing society today.
Located on the Streatham Campus, the new North Park building will provide state of the art facilities to inspire future learning and support the University’s ambitions to be a leading global institution.
Mike Shore-Nye, Registrar at the University of Exeter, said: “We are making a significant investment in research and teaching in Exeter. This new facility will allow us to secure our future long term success as a UK Top 10 and Global 100 Institution.
“The research taking place in the building will address some of the biggest challenges facing society today and in to the future. Including identifying global solutions to the impacts of climate change and improving the resilience of our water and waste systems here in the South West and beyond. We plan to base the research groups together in the building to allow for creative thinking and new collaborative research to take place.
“It will also enable the university to deliver a vision of future learning at Exeter, improving the student experience and putting Exeter at the forefront of modern, digitally enhanced learning.
“The building is being designed to be open to everyone, where academics, students, our external partners and the public can come together to collaborate, innovate and be inspired by research and education in a digitally enhanced environment.
“We welcome the local community to visit the University to view the plans for the building, to find out more about the exciting research that will take place in the building and to give us your thoughts and views on the development.”
One of the research areas that will be in the new building is the Centre for Resilience in Environment, Water and Waste (CREWW), a joint venture with South West Water (SWW) that gained £10m in funding from Research England earlier this year, as well as securing £21m investment from SWW. CREWW will conduct world-leading research into the provision of safe and resilient water services in the UK and overseas.
Professor Richard Brazier, from the University of Exeter and the Director of CREWW, said: “This is a fantastic opportunity to build a bespoke research and training facility that will allow us to make huge strides towards answering some of the big questions facing the water sector. The new centre will accommodate state-of-the-art, specialist laboratory facilities, and designated space to deliver collaborative research between academics and experts from the water industry.”
South West Water have expressly stated their commitment to research as a means of delivering cost-effective, resilience and environmentally sustainable water services to their customers.
The University continues to be committed to sustainability and as reflected in the region’s declaration of a climate emergency the project has pledged to achieve carbon neutrality in terms of regulated emissions in the building. The design optimises the layout of the building and ensures high thermal efficiency to reduce energy loss that will exceed current Building Regulation requirements.
The local community is invited to attend public consultation events to view plans of the new building and provide feedback on the designs. We want the space to be welcoming and meet the needs of the wider public and we are keen to ensure that the impact of the construction period is minimised. We very much welcome local people’s views on these points.
The public consultation events are taking place on the following dates:
Monday 18 November, 3.30pm to 7pm at the Innovation Centre on Streatham Campus (No 25 on the map).
Tuesday 19 November, 3.30pm to 7pm at the Innovation Centre on Streatham Campus (No 25 on the map).
Members of the public can drop in at any time. There will be a presentation from the project managers and architects at 4pm, 5pm and 6pm on both evenings.
The display of the designs for the building will be available to view all week from Monday 18 November to Sunday 24 November in the Innovation Centre foyer.
A copy of the exhibition materials and an opportunity to provide feedback online will also be available on our website www.exeter.ac.uk/northpark/theproject/publicconsultation/ from Monday 18 November.
All comments received will be reviewed and included as part of the University’s planning application to Exeter City Council in February. If approval is granted the University expects to start construction in December 2020.
For more information on the new research and teaching facility visit www.exeter.ac.uk/northpark
