Sunderland University: Making a place (to) workReinvention of the City Campus 2005-2010

10 September 2010

The City Campus: background

Reinvention of the City Campus

A Value Management based approach

• Focus on stakeholder requirements (value = what you get / what you give)

• Identify, record and agree strategic objectives

• Review constraints and opportunities

• Produce a ‘development framework’

• Define a series of projects within the framework

• Review the projects’ potential to collectively deliver the strategic objectives

• Prioritise projects according to their value

• Secure funding, support stakeholders, maintain momentum

• Identify, record and agree project objectives

• Refine project brief and develop design

Strategic objectives

The Development Framework

To enable the University to meet the challenge of increasing student expectation, to attract and retain students, academic and support staff, and to create an identifiable ‘place’ which

•Provides participation based sports facilities for students and staff

•Delivers a focal point for the City Campus

•Rethinks the provision of academic and administrative workspace

•Significantly enhances social and informal learning space provision

•Improves provision and effectiveness of non-academic support

•Enhances the external environment and creates external learning space

•Delivers student focussed facilities

The Development Framework

The Development Framework

The Gateway Building

An obsolete 1960s engineering teaching block

The redevelopment should provide:

•A new reception for the City Campus

•A central location for access to non-academic services

•A student ‘forum’: a meeting space

•Co-location of support service teams

The Gateway Building

CitySpace

Wearmouth Hall contained residential accommodation, Student’s Union, sports recreation and dining facilities

Its replacement should provide:

•A ‘social heart’ to the campus

•High quality sports, recreation and fitness facilities

•A flexible facility for social, dining and events use

•A landmark building on Chester Rd

•A sustainable design solution

CitySpace

Murray Library

Murray Library did not support contemporary working methods for students or staff

Student expectation required:

•A variety of learning ‘landscapes’

•Better access to distributed IT

•Improved help desk services

•Consolidation of staff facilities

•Social learning space

Murray Library

Faculty of Applied Sciences

Applied Sciences activity is currently dispersed across the campus, located in outdated and inflexible accommodation with no clear identity

Requirement s were:

•A significant new entrance and arrival space

•Access to social learning space and open access IT for students

•Co-location of all staff in an easily accessible area

•New multi-disciplinary teaching space

•High specification multi-disciplinary laboratory space

Faculty of Applied Sciences

The Quad

The reconfiguration of the public realm which was identified in the Development Framework should deliver:

•A public space flexible enough to support large events and informal use

•Enhanced, safe and legible pedestrian circulation

•Minimised vehicular penetration into public areas

•Spaces of appropriate scale and character to support the life of the University

•A significant new public space for the City

The Quad

The Quad

Conclusion

We believe that designers, through...

Engagement with the key stakeholders to identify strategic

objectives

A structured approach to establishing and recording these

objectives

Sustained support and enthusiasm from the client

A focus on delivery of end user needs at a detailed level

...can contribute to delivering real organisational change