Groundbreaking ceremony marks construction of new Science and Health Building

Work on Coventry University’s flagship new Science and Health Building has got underway with a ground breaking ceremony to mark the start of the £37 million construction.

The two-year project will consolidate the Faculty of Health and Life Science’s existing teaching and research facilities into a new building in Coventry city centre that will house state-of-the-art healthcare simulation, research and ‘super-lab’ environments.

The world-class facilities will include a mock operating theatre, fully-equipped ambulance, and community house to demonstrate the latest developments in assistive living technologies.

The super laboratory will be capable of accommodating up to 240 students for teaching and research in biological and analytical sciences.  A running track, sports therapy clinic and facilities for food and environmental sciences will also be on site.

The five-storey, 120,000 sq ft building on Much Park Street will link to the existing Coventry University Sports Centre in White Friars Street.  A separate two-storey energy centre will also be constructed on site to efficiently power the Science and Health Building to world-leading environmental standards. 

The ground breaking event was attended by Coventry University Vice-Chancellor Professor John Latham, and Professor Guy Daly, Executive Dean of Faculty of Health and Life Sciences.

Prof Latham said:

The new Science and Health Building is the second most important single building project after the Engineering and Computing Building that has been undertaken by Coventry University since full university status was attained in 1992.

It will provide world-class teaching and research facilities that befit our status of Modern University of the Year, and will equip our health and life science students with highly-advanced skills to enable them to excel into the workplace.

The total cost of constructing and equipping the build is expected to be in excess of £60 million.  The project, which has been awarded a £4.9 million by the Higher Education Funding Council for England, is due to be completed in 2017.

Prof Daly said:

The ground breaking represents a significant milestone in this flagship project for Coventry University and it will be exciting to see our ambitious vision unfold in the months to come.

BAM Construction was awarded the contract to build the new facility in January.  The contractor built The Hub at Coventry University, a modern high-tech building which is the social centre of student campus life, and also the Severn Trent Headquarters in the city centre.

BAM Construction was represented at the ground breaking event by Regional Director Rod Stiles, Construction Manager Steve Roome and Project Manager Alan Bell.

Alan said:
Coventry is a special place for BAM, where we have a lot of relationships with the University, its neighbours, and the landscape we’ve helped to change over the years.

This is a special and complex building that we’ll be responsible for creating. It’s a great pleasure to partner our colleagues at the University and their team again, having created The Hub. 

We will make sure this building benefits the whole community here, and we’ll build it with care and consideration for those around us. It’s great to make a prompt start.