Plans to upgrade, improve and add to the teaching,
learning and working environment for students and staff
will also improve the sustainability and accessibility of
the building, making use of natural light and ventilation
throughout.
As part of the project, all levels of the existing building
will be refurbished and a two-storey atrium will be
integrated into the scheme.
The project has been carefully phased and managed
to minimise disruption to the Physics department and the
wider campus and is expected to be complete in Spring
2017.
Reducing impact on the environment
Naturally, the Physics refurbishment will also be
targeting a BREEAM ‘Excellent’ rating.
The key innovative and low impact design features
helping the building to achieve this will be:
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Extensive retention of the original building fabric
Upgrade to the external windows and roof to meet
current building regulations
Extensive natural ventilation
Full replacement to mechanical and electrical services
including replacement lighting installation and
replacement heat emitters
ISOLAB
Lancaster University has also begun work on a £2m suite
of ultra-low noise laboratories. IsoLab will provide the most
advanced environments in the world for the expanding field
of quantum technology.
IsoLab will house three isolated laboratory spaces where
vibration, noise and electromagnetic disturbance will be
drastically reduced to give an “ultra-clean” experimental
environment. The building will be embedded in the ground
and separated from other buildings to ensure that the
three 50-tonne experimental platforms are as completely
isolated as possible from the surrounding environment.
These laboratories will allow the operation of the
extremely sensitive quantum systems and devices which
promise to provide the transformative technology of the
future.
They will provide capability and access both for the
University and industry in, for example, quantum optics,
nano-machinery, quantum encryption, extreme microscopy
and also provide the lowest temperatures available for
cooling quantum systems.
The project leader is Dr Richard Haley of the Department
of Physics.
At a ceremony to celebrate the start of the works, the
Vice-Chancellor Professor Mark E. Smith said: “This unique
facility will provide a world-beating environment for
modern quantum technology and provide support for this
HSE INTERNATIONAL
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