New Campus Welcomes First Students Next Week
A MULTI-million pound, environmentally friendly development at Northumbria University has been opened.
The new City Campus East will welcome its first students next week.
About 9,000 students of law, business and design will be studying at the new facilities, which are part of a pounds 136m investment by Northumbria University in its city centre campus.
It was opened on time despite a fire causing pounds 1.5m of damage to the School of Design building earlier this year.
Prof Kel Fidler, vice-chancellor, said: “This state-of-the-art development means Northumbria now has one of the best inner-city campuses in the country.
“City Campus East gives us a unique advantage in being able to attract and retain the brightest students, which can only be good news both for the university and the North-East in general.” The development features 24,000 square metres of accommodation, including classrooms, lecture theatres and conference and exhibition space.
It incorporates a range of environmentally-friendly aspects and will be one of the first buildings in the UK to comply with – and exceed – “green” legislation introduced as a result of the Kyoto Treaty.
Environmental features include rain harvesters to collect water for flushing toilets, solar collectors on the roof to produce hot water, computerised heating and lighting sensors to ensure power is only used when rooms are occupied and a general design to allow as much natural light in as possible.
A translucent material called ‘Kalwall’ has been used on the exterior walls facing into the courtyard to let in light and retain heat while a light-well projecting above the roof of the Newcastle Business School and the School of Law – and piercing the building down to ground floor level – allows natural light to penetrate, improving the environment for people inside and saving energy by reducing the need for artificial lighting.
The green theme continues in the landscaping with specially sourced box trees and podia that can be used as social spaces or as exhibition space.
The underlying concept for the landscaping is based on the two sides of the brain.
The gates and railings at City Campus East are the design of Northumbria graduate David Irwin who created the analogy between the brain and its nervous system to the landscape and its railings, acting to guide people around the area and entice them into the complex.
(c) 2007 The Journal – Newcastle-upon-Tyne. Provided by ProQuest Information and Learning. All rights Reserved.