Archetech Issue 32 2017 | Page 54

WORDS: MR. JOHN DOE PHOTOS: MRS. JOHN DOE wORK SET TO START On SOLenT’S neW SPORTS buiLDing WORk On a bRanD neW SPORTS buiLDing aT SOuTHamPTOn SOLenT univeRSiTy’S ciTy cenTRe camPuS iS SeT TO STaRT afTeR being given THe gO aHeaD by THe ciTy cOunciL’S PLanning PaneL Work will begin on the new £28 million building on Monday 7 August. It is the latest step in an ongoing £100 million estates development plan, which is transforming Solent’s East Park Terrace (EPT) campus. The University’s primary learning and teaching building, the Spark, is already in use and has proved revolutionary for both staff and students. Facilities in the building will include two sports halls, three fitness studios, a health and wellbeing gym, a strength and conditioning gym and high quality teaching facilities. In addition, parking will be developed underneath the building. “Starting work on the new sports building is great news for our students and staff, as well as our local community and the city,” says Southampton Solent University’s Vice-Chancellor, Professor Graham Baldwin. “It forms the latest phase of our exciting, ongoing estates development and in addition to our sector leading Spark building, it represents a further physical manifestation of our commitment to excellence in learning and teaching.” The new structure will sit alongside the Spark building and will link to the rest of the EPT site to create a thriving, student community across a range of excellent facilities. The University has been rated 31 out of 127 for its facilities in the Whatuni Student Choice Awards, which are based on 27,000 student reviews of universities, and was recently named Most Improved University at the British Universities and Colleges Sport (BUCS) National Awards. Designed by Morgan Sindall and their team, including Architecture PLB and Arup engi neers and supported by planning consultants JLL, the first students will make use of the building during summer 2019. ABOUT SOUTHAMPTON SOLENT UNIvERSITY With a population of around 11,000 staff and students, Southampton Solent University offers over 200 qualifications ranging from HND to PhD, in subjects as diverse as maritime education and training, fashion and design, media and television, music, health, sport and leisure, business, IT and technology. Every year we are joined by around 10,000 additional students on short professional courses. Rated five stars for teaching and inclusiveness in the QS World Rankings, and winner of the Times Higher Education ‘Most Improved Student Experience’ Award 2015, the University was also awarded the 2013 Quality Assurance Agency kitemark for quality and standards of teaching and learning, and voted one of the UK’s most creative universities in Which? University’s 2013 and 2014 student polls. Solent’s business school has been awarded ‘Gold approval’ by the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants (ACCA), and also holds the Small Business Charter Award, which is supported by the Association of Business Schools and the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills.