Demolition Underway On Site Of UCB’s New Campus
The demolition of derelict buildings in Birmingham’s historic Jewellery Quarter is well underway as a site is cleared for building work to begin on the first phase of University College Birmingham’s (UCB) new campus.
The demolition work on Charlotte Street and Holland Street, which is being overseen by national contractor Shepherd Construction, is due to complete by March.
Professor Ray Linforth, Principal of UCB and Nigel Moss, Chairman of the College Corporation visited the site this week as Elevate, a demolition contractor from Solihull, carefully dismantled one of the buildings, a disused factory. One section of the factory’s façade will be retained, repaired and incorporated into the new 7,592m² learning and teaching facility to complement the style of the other adjoining buildings.
The new building will enable UCB to provide a modern, high quality learning environment for both postgraduates and undergraduates as part of longer term plans for the redevelopment of the whole four- acre site.
Designed over four floors, the new facility is set to achieve a BREEAM Excellent rating and will include a dedicated Postgraduate Centre, teaching spaces including three lecture theatres, a 24 hour study hub and a 200-seater café.
The consultants working on the scheme include local practices Associated Architects, EC Harris, Couch Consulting Engineers and Couch, Perry & Wilkes as well as Nottingham based cost consultants Gleeds
Peter Millett, Shepherd Construction’s managing director for the West Division commented: “Clearance of the site is progressing at a rate of knots and once this is complete we will be preparing to start work on the groundwork and drainage of the site.”