Infrastructure and digital
During the Covid-19 pandemic, investment in the estate was, in part, paused, with existing schemes progressing in line with the health guidance. We have now recommenced delivering our strategic priorities in line with our approved capital plans.
The return of staff and student to campus saw a significant increase in maintenance activity, up 20 per cent from pre-pandemic levels. The existing estate has performed well with ventilation operating effectively and water hygiene remaining consistent. These are key areas of operational performance that required additional activity due to the changes associated with the pandemic.
With students now back on campus, we continue to develop environments that support the University’s excellence in research, innovation and education.
Long-term sustainability
The new Faculty of Social Sciences building is due for completion by the end of 2022. It will be transformational for our educational and social spaces, but also because it has significant green credentials. Designed with sustainability at its core, it will be the University’s first net zero building once in operation.
We’re working to the BREEAM Outstanding Building Accreditation standards, which will see the new building become one of the first in education to use 200 metre deep geothermal ground source heat pumps. The technology will utilise the geothermal heating and cooling across the seasons.
Outside will see new plants and green spaces to improve local biodiversity. The area will be open to students, staff and the general public to enjoy. Our long-term commitment to the environment is underpinned by our new Sustainable Building Standard, which will help us achieve very low embedded carbon on all our construction projects. This is a dynamic standard that we will continually review and improve.
Innovation and discovery
In February 2020 the university completed the Engineering Heartspace. This building transformed the space between the Grade II listed Sir Frederick Mappin Building and Central Wing. With a full return to campus this space can now provide the vibrancy of teaching and learning that it was designed for, but was interrupted by the pandemic restrictions.
At the end of July 2022, we reached the practical completion stage of our Gene Therapy Manufacturing and Innovation Centre (GITMC). Located in the University’s Innovation District (USID), the GTIMC is one of three pioneering hubs in a new £18 million network funded by LifeArc and the Medical Research Council, with support from the Biotechnology Sciences Research Council. Work at the new centre will advance scientific discoveries and promising treatments for many life-threatening diseases that currently have no cure.
Driving innovation in advanced manufacturing
The Advanced Manufacturing Research Centre North West (AMRC NW) officially opened in March 2022 and is located east of Preston, Lancashire. A new £20 million applied research and development centre, AMRC NW will play a major role in driving innovation in the UK’s advanced manufacturing sectors, which includes aerospace, digital manufacturing, clean energy technologies and additive manufacturing.
The new centre has already had a great impact in its first year. It was awarded ‘Sub-regional Project of the Year – Lancashire’ at the North West Construction Awards, and was one of the winners of the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors Awards 2022 in the North West. Having taken the honours in the Commercial Development category, it will now go on to contest the national Commercial Development award against eight other regions.
Our five-year estate plan
With so much brilliant work on infrastructure taking place across the University, we will complete our updated five-year estate plan early in the next academic year. That’s where we will detail our infrastructure priorities and how we will continue to deliver excellence as a University, all while working towards our net zero sustainability goals.
Investment in digital
Building on our response to the Covid-19 pandemic, we have further developed the University’s digital capability. A focus on increased digital access for all staff and students supported our continued vision to provide world-class teaching and research facilities and services.
Learning environment
Every year, we invest approximately £15 million into our digital offer and that is backed by a new technology enabled strategic framework. The framework is there to make sure the transformational change of our digital capabilities are aligned with the University vision.
We provide a multifaceted and inclusive digital teaching and learning environment. Over the last few years, we have substantially invested in our digital teaching and learning technology. As part of that work, we reviewed and redesigned on-campus study spaces in collaboration with our students.
To support hybrid working, over 50 meeting rooms across campus have been equipped with dedicated hybrid meeting hardware to ensure that collaborative working can continue as the University transitions towards its ambition for hybrid learning and working.
Supporting research
Our digital offer continually supports the University’s globally recognised research. We use technology to help our researchers work more effectively and produce outputs that change lives all over the world.
We recently invested in a high-performance computer cluster to provide increased access for researchers across faculties to high performance computing resources. A new graphics processing unit (GPU) cluster also enables greater access for researchers to use cutting-edge artificial intelligence and machine learning techniques.
Sustainability
We continue to improve the sustainability of our digital estate by investing in our underlying infrastructure. Key priorities moving forward include further improvements to the student experience. We will achieve that by increasing the digital capabilities that support the student lifecycle and developing our virtual learning environment, all in line with our digital education strategy. Through further investment, we will see the University network go through transformational change