University awards £21m building contract

Work on the new Engineering Graduate School is set to begin next month with the £21m building contract being awarded to Graham Construction.

The new 5,300 square metre building will be built at the corner of Broad Lane and Newcastle Street and will become the centre of the Faculty of Engineering’s postgraduate research and teaching activities. Completion of the building work is scheduled for September next year.

The Engineering Graduate School is the first step in a major programme of new build and refurbishment aimed at ensuring the Faculty of Engineering can meet expected demand over the next decade and beyond.

With only Imperial College London and the University of Cambridge attracting more engineering research funding, the University of Sheffield has an excellent reputation for its world class engineering research and teaching, attracting students from all over the world.

Keith Lilley, Director of Estates and Facilities Management, said the building would create vital new facilities for the Faculty of Engineering.

“The Faculty of Engineering’s on-going successful growth means that we urgently need both to improve our existing teaching and research facilities and to develop new ones. We’re delighted to be working with Graham Construction on this important development which, when completed, will be the first step in meeting the challenge of expanding and upgrading our engineering estate to meet the needs of 21st century engineering teaching and research.

“The site for the new Engineering Graduate School is ideally located very close to the Mappin quadrangle, which houses much of the Faculty of Engineering, making it easy for students and staff to move quickly between locations, and we’ll be making the best possible use of the space available to ensure maximum benefit from the new development.”

The Engineering Graduate School will create a further vital link between the research and teaching carried out within the Faculty of Engineering’s city centre campus and its expanding facilities at the Advanced Manufacturing Park in Catcliffe, where research carried out at the University is translated into practical industrial applications.

To find out more about the Faculty of Engineering, visit: http://www.shef.ac.uk/faculty/engineering/