Major refurbishment of the URS Building
Monday, 22 June 2015
URS Building
A major refurbishment of the URS Building, (also known as the ‘Lego building’) on Whiteknights campus will begin in January 2017.
Once complete, the building will accommodate staff and students of the University’s new School of Architecture (which opens in September 2016), School of Construction Management and Engineering, Department of Art and Department of Typography & Graphic Communication.
Staff and students will work and study in state-of-the art teaching, research and learning facilities. The building will be predominantly open-plan, with a variety of modern collaborative working spaces, providing a creative hub for innovative thinking. The re-imagined structure will also reflect the University’s commitment to sustainable design.
The University will work closely with Heads of School and Departments and their staff as the project progresses. Construction will begin in January 2017, with completion scheduled for December 2018, subject to final confirmation from the University Council and planning permission from the relevant local authorities.”
Adam Cossey, Associate Architect at Hawkins\Brown, who are transforming the building, and former University of Reading student, said: “This is an exciting project and an opportunity to redesign this building working with the existing structure, not against it. The other challenge is to create a building that works for each of the four different academic disciplines to be housed there.”
The URS building is currently home to the School of Construction Management and Engineering. Professor Stuart Green, Head of School said:
“The Lego building is held in great affection by staff and students alike. It’s one of the few distinctive buildings on the Whiteknights campus, and it’s a building which shouts about its structural form. But even the building’s greatest supporters would have to concede that it has in recent years started to look a little tired. The refurbishment of the URS building represents a significant investment in improving the teaching and learning facilities available to our students. We are looking forward to a building which matches their ambitions”.
The University will welcome its first cohort of architecture students in September 2016. Further information about the School of Architecture can be found here.