Opening ceremony held for Chancellor's Building

Friday, 10 February 2017

Chancellor Lord Waldegrave cut the ribbon at the formal ceremony.

A ribbon-cutting ceremony was held on Thursday 9 February to mark the formal opening of the Chancellor’s Building. 

The invitation-only ceremony was attended by a select group of senior staff and stakeholders, also marking the first event officiated by Lord William Waldegrave of North Hill as the University’s new Chancellor.  

After speeches and the formal ribbon-cutting guests were taken on a tour of the building, which included visits to the specialist Building Information Modelling (BIM) lounge and visualisation lab. A research-focused VIP lunch was held afterwards.

The Chancellor’s Building currently houses the School of Construction Management and Engineering (SCME), which forms part of the School of the Built Environment. Staff and students based in the URS and Engineering buildings were relocated to the Chancellor’s Building in December 2016 in preparation of two major redevelopment projects set to take place in the near future – the refurbishment of the URS Building and the demolition of the Engineering Building (as part of the construction of a new Health & Life Sciences facility).      

Designed to be a home away from home, the £8.4 million Chancellor’s Building incorporates all of the specialist features SCME students are used to using, including a BIM lounge, an immersive virtual reality ‘CAVE’ and a dedicated resource centre. It has been designed to provide students and staff with a versatile space for teaching, learning, research and relaxing. 

SCME will remain in the Chancellor’s Building until the URS refurbishment is complete, which is currently anticipated for 2020. The University also aims to use it as alternative teaching space while further campus improvement projects take place.