London & South East

University of Chichester invests in the future

University of Chichester- Campus- Bognor Regis

 

The University of Chichester is undertaking a variety of projects to upgrade its campus in Bognor Regis.

The construction of a new Learning Resource Centre building on the site has led to a number of buildings becoming vacant and therefore ready for refurbishment.

Design on the £1.6 million development began in September 2011 and work started on site in February 2012.

Mark Arnold, Senior Project Manager at Stride Treglown Management Limited, told Premier Construction about the project.

He said:

“We have undertaken work to upgrade the Bognor campus because it was often felt that the facilities were not as modern as the Chichester campus.

“The first phase of the work involves a full refurbishment of two buildings, minor refurbishment of one building and the demolition of two buildings to provide landscaped areas.”

The main contractor is Mansell Construction and the architect is Harrington Design Architects, with funding from the Higher Education Funding Council for England (HEFCE), South East England Development Agency (SEEDA) and the University of Chichester.

Mark said:

“Over the last four years the University has undertaken projects to upgrade the Bognor campus with some funding from HEFCE and SEEDA.

“A series of projects were identified as part of a master plan at the university. The main part of this was to provide a new Learning Resource Centre, but the supplementary works have considerably changed the way a lot of the existing buildings are used.

“We have refurbished a Grade I listed building to provide a new space for the School of Enterprise, Management and Leadership and the John Parry Library has also been refurbished.”

The Assembly Hall, now named The Theatre, has been refurbished to provide facilities for theatre groups, dance groups and performances. The Mead Centre, a low-grade teaching building, has been demolished to make way for car parking.

The refurbishment of the John Parry Library was a major part of the work.

Mark said:

“We gutted the inside and replaced the windows with the same style that were used in the Learning Resource Centre to keep some continuity in design. Inside we provided a number of teaching practical rooms, primarily for science, a 150-seat lecture space and further high quality classroom space.

“We have also refurbished what was the Student Services building, which is now the Business Incubation Centre and provides enterprise space for small and medium sized businesses. This is part of a regeneration scheme in Bognor Regis itself, and with the funding coming from SEEDA to the university we can now provide fully serviced space to help new businesses become established.

University of Chichester- Campus- Bognor Regis

“In terms of the University this development will provide up to date teaching space. With universities now charging tuition fees, students quite rightfully expect more and that’s effectively what we’re providing.  It gives the University of Chichester the opportunity to stand out from other universities in terms of facilities.”

Black Box Network Services

Black Box specialise in structured cabling, which is the core element of the corporate network.

Black Box has vast experience in providing this vital component to clients across all vertical sectors and will assist clients in choosing the right solution to meet all their infrastructure connectivity requirements.

Their services include design, installation, product procurement and maintenance of network infrastructures and will make sure that their services meet the needs of businesses today and in the future.

With their team of designers, project managers, Service Desk, on-site technicians and technical support, they can offer a cradle-to-grave solution. The Service Desk is based in Reading, and is on call 24/7 to receive any intervention requests and to assist the project managers.

In the UK, Black Box has been in operation for over 20 years and have a Head Office in Reading Berkshire with a regional office in Belfast, Dublin.

Black Box Corporation has been in operation since 1976 and is based in Pittsburgh USA and now has a global presence with 175,000 clients in 141 countries around the world.

Sarah Hewett from Black Box said:

“As part of the Bognor Campus Project, Black Box was asked to complete various installation requirements. This included completing surveys to ascertain the routes of the existing fibres and external Cat5e cables. On completion of the surveys, we supplied and installed Cat5e outlets to the Old Library, Student Services and Assembly Hall.  These outlets were terminated into new patch panels at the cabinet and onto Cat5e modules mounted in twin faceplates at the outlet end.

“We have also installed 16 core 50/125 OM2 internal/external fibre cables from the switch room of the LRC building to the main wiring cabinet within the Old Library, Student Services and Assembly Hall.

Black Box have worked with the University of Chichester for more than six years. In that time they have provided various installation projects across various campuses.

Sarah said:

“The University is a valued client. With a relationship spanning six years it was important to provide such a valued customer everything needed for a successful project. We were an integral part of the project process and continue to maintain the University’s network today and in the future

“Our mission is to provide a service that meets and exceeds the requirements of our customers for network solutions and services. We aim to achieve this by providing a comprehensive range of quality products and the best technical support and customer care in the business. We are committed to continually improving the quality of our service to our customers.”

P & K Lacey (Southampton) Ltd

P & K Lacey (Southampton) Ltd is a family-run business, established in 2009, specialising in the design and manufacture of architectural aluminium and PVC-U windows, doors, bi-fold doors and conservatories as well as glass balustrades and curtain walling for the commercial and domestic market.

Karlton Lacey from P & K Lacey (Southampton) Ltd said:

“We have worked on a variety of projects in a range of sectors, for example we recently worked on a project atOakHavenHospitalin Leamington Spa with Drew Construction Group.

“At the University of Chichester, we manufactured and installed the curtain walling, windows and entrance doors.

“This was a good job for us to undertake as it was the first time we have worked with Mansell Construction Services Ltd and  will hopefully lead to more work with them in the future.”

Granada Secondary Glazing Ltd

Granada Secondary glazing ltd have been in business for 18 years and specialise in the design, development, manufacture and installation of bespoke secondary glazing.

The company has worked on a wide range of projects including Kings Cross Railway Station, the London Marriot Hotel on Park Lane and the engineering block at Leeds University.

Mike Latham from Granada Secondary Glazing Ltd said:

“At the University of Chichester we provided acoustic secondary glazing to existing timber windows. It’s a listed property so we had to provide an acoustic barrier over the windows to stop noise escaping without changing the appearance of the windows.

“It’s a feature building and for the university it’s important to keep sound in but also to stop intrusive noise coming from outside. The challenge for us was that there was big feature windows and arches so we had to provide a sympathetic design. Conservation officers were obviously interested that we make sure that the windows were unobtrusive and it worked really well.

“We pride ourselves on being able to provide sympathetic solutions to listed and conservation properties. That particular market is driven by the fact that our system has to be almost invisible. If we are able to fit a product and nobody notices it, then we know we’ve done a good job.”

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