Work set to start on £26million university scheme (From Gazette)

Work set to start on £26million university scheme

3:25pm Monday 17th September 2012 in News

WORK is set to go ahead on a new £26million extension to a library at Essex University.

The state-of-the art student centre is due to be finished by late 2014, putting accommodation, finance as well as other student support services under one roof.

The university is set to go out to tender next month to find a contractor to complete the project, attached to the Albert Sloman Library, on the Wivenhoe campus.

Work is due to start in January 2013.

Richard Halsall, deputy director of the capital development team, said: “We are looking forward to getting work underway on this project as it will improve facilities for our students and staff, and bring student services together more cohesively.”

Architect Patel Taylor, which designed the Ivor Crewe Lecture Hall, has drawn up the plans, which are part of a £200million investment in the university.

The extension, which was granted planning permission in July, will also include new IT facilities, a media centre and a 24-hour reading room.

The development was opposed by university professors because they did not want to see historic stairs being torn down to make room for the scheme.

But in June, the stairs, known as the Cloisters, were demolished.