The four-storey, 15,550 square metre SEE Building will welcome students and researchers for the new academic year. The facility serves as an exemplar of the University’s commitment to its industry collaboration strategy, which is designed to facilitate students, academics and industry partners working together on cutting edge industry facing projects.
Bringing together world-leading research and future facing teaching and learning, the SEE Building will be occupied by a series of research and teaching laboratories including physics, electrical, electronics, composite and chemical vapour deposition.
The £65 million project, procured through the North West Construction Hub framework, also features a wind tunnel, previously located at Salford Innovation Research Centre (SIRC) and boasts high-spec laser laboratories.
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The new build incorporates high sustainability credentials, a key element of the University’s pledge to reduce the environmental impact of the wider masterplan. While fully electrically powered, the build is supported by 154 roof mounted photovoltaic panels which provide renewable energy.
The Salford Crescent and University District's wider masterplan includes opportunities to develop one million square feet of educational floor space, six million square feet of commercial space targeted at industrial growth sectors, two million square feet of public realms in addition to green landscaped routes and cycle ways, and 2,500 new homes and apartments.
Morgan Sindall Construction has worked on the scheme alongside project manager Faithful + Gould, architect Sheppard Robson and engineers Arup.
The University of Salford and Morgan Sindall Construction have maintained a close working relationship, underpinned by their partnership in 2018 on a programme focused on enhancing the employability credentials of undergraduates, which looks to combine the latest academic understanding of industry trends and developments with real world experience and learning.
The programme has been delivered through regular site visits, workshops and providing expert advice on project proposals for design, planning, costing and development to multi-disciplinary student teams within the surroundings of the specially built Knowledge Quad, a multi-purpose training and learning facility based on site during the build programme.
Elsewhere on the campus, Morgan Sindall Construction is also building the University’s North of England Robotics Innovation Centre (NERIC).
