Midlands & East Anglia

Birmingham City University to be at the forefront of Art and Design as plans for £61m contract are approved

Birmingham City UniversityIn the first phase of Birmingham City University’s £180m plan to build a new campus at Eastside in the city centre, Willmott Dixon will build a 18,310 square metre home for the university’s Birmingham Institute of Art and Design (BIAD).

Plans for the five-storey building, which is adjacent to Cardigan Street, were approved by Birmingham City Council in April. Work on phase one is now scheduled to start in autumn 2011 and will be ready for occupation in September 2013. The project is designed by Associated Architects and will feature a range of facilities, including TV, radio and photographic studios for the university’s media production courses.

The new campus will benefit from being located next to Millenium Point, which is already home to the University’s Faculty of Technology, Engineering and the Environment (TEE) and the Birmingham School of Acting. The new building will be linked by a double height connecting structure.Birmingham City University

It is possible that further development will take place on nearby land at Eastside due to an agreement made in June that involved the University and joint venture partners Birmingham City Council and Advantage West Midlands.

Willmott Dixon midlands managing director Peter Owen said: “Our role with Birmingham City University places us at the heart of creating Birmingham’s bright future. We will make sure the local community benefits from our work, which includes spending around 80% of our budget on companies within 30 miles, using local subcontractors, trades people and suppliers.”

Professor David Tidmarsh, vice chancellor of Birmingham City University, has expressed his delight to be working with Willmott Dixon. He said: “This is another milestone in our ambition to build a city centre campus to create a learning quarter in the heart of Birmingham. This will be a significant investment by the university to provide a major boost for the city and surrounding region because this landmark facility will attract a new generation of ambitious students who are keen to become part of a highly skilled workforce.”Birmingham City University

Birmingham City University achieved university status in 1992, changing its name from the University of Central England to Birmingham City University in 2007. Alongside their commitment to educating their students for creative and professional careers, they have a strongly developing research base with a number of Centres of Research Excellence which received formal recognition in the national Research Assessment Exercise 2008. One of the major universities in the UK, with around 25,000 students, they work with organisations as diverse as the BBC, CISCO, Microsoft, Advantage West Midlands, Arts Council England, Jaguar Land Rover, Jewsons, the Law Society and the NHS. Research funding has doubled, with HEFCE awarding the University almost £1.8m of quality-related funding, and this year the university was ranked 16th out of 121 universities for the most students in graduate-level jobs (Sunday Times University Guide 2011).

There are currently a range of Art & Design related courses available at both graduate and postgraduate level. These include: Animation, Architecture, Art& Design, Fashion Design, Fine Art, Interior Design, Textile Design and Theatre, Performance and Event Design.

The university’s Art & Design department hit the headlines recently when pop star Lady Gaga was photographed wearing a dress created by fashion design student Becky Short. Gaga posted a photograph of herself wearing the dress to her Twitpics and on her Facebook wall on July 7th 2011. Dave McKean – a cult comic artist and illustrator who worked on the third Harry Potter smash-hit, the Prisoner of Azkaban – generously supported Birmingham City University at a recent awards ceremony, whilst BAFTA award winning Animation Director Jonathan Hodgson shared his experiences of creating animated documentary films with the students.Birmingham City University Willmott Dixon

The new £61m, state-of-the-art facility will mark the start to the university’s plan to provide a creative new environment that meets the modern learning needs of graduates, enabling them to build invaluable links with national and international employers. The investment reflects the University’s aspiration to become one of the UK’s biggest providers of talent to the creative industries, an important driver of the West Midlands economy and beyond.

In one day, 500 people attend the hospital’s Emergency Departments, they carry out over 235 planned procedures including operations, see around 1,850 people in their Outpatient departments, 2,700 meals are served to hospital patients and District Nurses make over 500 patient visits. In addition, around 18 babies are delivered in their maternity units and their Health Visitors see over 8 new babies.

It is hoped that the new hospitals will provide the medical support that the community has lacked for so long; delivering not only babies, but first class healthcare.

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