Your Vice President Rochelle gives an update on how the Brindley refurbishments will affect you.
Hope you're all back into the swing of things after two months in here at Staffs. Those of you who have lectures at Stoke campus' Brindley building will no doubt have seen or been affected by the construction work going on all round it. Its redesign is part of the University's massive multi-million refurbishment and landscaping project 'Shaping the Future' to make sure the university is fit for purpose for future generations. We know it's not ideal to have disruptions to your learning and teaching experience but the end product should make it all worthwhile. Last Friday I met with the Director of Business, Planning and Resources David Shepherd to discuss the redevelopment.
Wednesday 7th November sees the re-opening of Brindley's IT centre after a brand new revamp. There are new labs, group study spaces with fixed computers, laptop plug in points, printer and new seating areas. Quiet study areas are also available and a new bookable group study and presentation room.
As well as the new Brindley suites there's always the alternative of using the computers in the Law Library on Leek Road which is open to all students. On the College Road side of campus there's Cadman library or upstairs in the Union (above Ember Lounge) which are available for general student use.
If you look at the building plan,
which can be downloaded here, you can see where work has been split into 9 elements, each colour-coded to show exactly when they are expecting it to take place. Work on most of these sections is already mid-way.
Ground Floor
1. The area which was used to be home to the Faculty of Health is going to become a new cafe/social space, with Health staff moving to the first floor. The new cafe area won't be ready until later in March [Sections 3 & 5]
2. The area where the Dolche Vita cafe was located will become the new entrance to the building (the bit boarded off with a rainbow wall). It is expected that the new entrance area will be in use from early February. [Section 1]
3. The current entrance area, foyer, lift and stairwell in Section 7 will be available until mid-February, at which time it is expected that the second lift will be ready
4. Work will commence on the second entrance opposite Bush House [Section 4], where there will be a small lobby area and an external canopy. This will be ready at the end of October
5. Work on the second lift started last week and will be completed by the beginning of February. [Section 2]
6. There will be a new lobby area where the second lift is being installed and work on this will commence in mid-December and be finished by the beginning of February. There will also be lobby areas on the other floors. When work is taking place in these areas there will be no corridor access through the areas during "out of hours" times. David has tried to arrange for this work to happen outside of the teaching calendar as much as possible as many lectures take place after these designated times. [Section 9]
First Floor
1. The IT area is being refurbished and this work should be finished at the beginning of November. [Section 6]
Second Floor
1. The work on the new building entrance has meant that we have had to move out users of B200. This work will not be finished until the beginning of February. [Section 8]
2. I've already highlighted the work that will be taking place in the lift/lobby area (currently B253). See (6) above. [Sections 2 & 9]
Third Floor
1. The work which is affecting second floor users (lift/lobby) will also affect third floor users, with the lobby area being the current B353. [Sections 2 & 9]
Advance notice of will be given and alternative routes and their signage will be provided once they apply. David is currently awaiting further details of the building programme so that they can agree with the contractor when the end staircase will be closed off, alternative routes used and any implications for emergency exits, so we can get them communicated to you ASAP.
Hope you enjoy the first completed stage of Brindley: the best is yet to come...
Rochelle