New £60 million Student Centre on track for April 2021 opening
The University of Central Lancashire (UCLan) has today released new timelapse footage which highlights the impressive progress being made on the exterior of its new £60 million Student Centre.
In a little over a month, nearly 100 tonnes of steel and glass have been lifted into place on the south elevation of the development, with the building now virtually watertight.
At 13.5 metres in height and nearly 100 metres in length, it all adds up to the highest single span ‘continuous’ curtain walling system in Europe – meaning the outer walls are non-structural.
In total, the impressive frontage required 165 units of glass in an assortment of 25 different shapes and sizes.
Each vertical supporting bar between the panes of glass weigh in at approximately 1.2 tonnes while the largest glass unit installed is 510kg with the smallest being 130kg.
Michael Ahern, UCLan’s Chief Information and Infrastructure Officer, said: “The completion of our Student Centre’s exterior glass frontage represents a major construction milestone.
“Our students and staff can’t wait to start using the building which will be flooded with natural light, aesthetically superb and most importantly create an inspiring environment to support our students for many years to come.
“Our construction partners Bowmer + Kirkland will soon be entering the final straight as we look forward to the project’s completion in April 2021.”
Work will now turn to the completion of the building’s interior as well as the new public square of which 45 percent has already been laid.
Once completed, the development will also provide a greener environment on the previous Adelphi roundabout for students, staff and residents to enjoy, with over 300 new trees being planted and a 50,000-strong bee colony on the roof of the Student Centre.
To keep informed of any travel updates and for more detail about current highways information and diversions, visit www.uclanmasterplan.co.uk or follow @uclanmasterplan on Twitter. Alternatively, you can email the Masterplan team at uclanmasterplan@uclan.ac.uk
