Mace appointed for construction of University of Sussex's new Life Sciences facility
Mace has been appointed to construct the University of Sussex’s new Life Sciences facility at the institution’s Falmer campus near Brighton. The project is part of the university’s £500 million expansion programme.
The University of Sussex is expanding its campus with a project bolstering the institution’s famous Life Sciences faculty. The university’s Life Sciences school has producted two Nobel Prize-winners, Sir Harry Kroto and Sir John Cornforth, and with the expansion, it aims at further bolstering its international standing. A new building will therefore be constructed at Sussex’s Falmer campus, near Brighton. The building is part of the university’s £500 million programme to modernise and improve its campus.
The new building will further enhance the school’s success in cancer and neurodegeneration research, as well as expand space for teaching facilities, including five stories, laid out to encourage and enable interdisciplinary collaboration though spaces. Molecular biologists, zoologists, neuroscientists, and chemists will be encouraged to work side by side in a ‘science without walls’ approach.
Following a competitive tender process, engineering and consultancy firm Mace has been appointed in the construction role for the new facilities. The firm will draw on its own multidisciplinary capabilities to develop and deliver the building. PREACH, Mace’s public sector and education construction business unit, will be engaged for the construction, implementing a design in line with the vision of the wider campus’ founding architect, Sir Basil Spence. This will include judicious use of glass and concrete, while the building will aim to meet various environmental and sustainability outcomes.
Commenting on the appointment, Simon Neale, the University of Sussex’s Director of Estates and Facilities said, “Mace has clearly understood our ambition to develop a beacon of science and innovation excellence that will bring significant economic and social benefit to the South East and UK. We will work together to create outstanding modern laboratories and high-tech teaching and research spaces that will inspire the scientists of tomorrow and our talented group of world-leading academics.”
Terry Spraggett, Mace’s Business Unit Director for PREACH, said, “We’re obviously very pleased that the University of Sussex has selected us to deliver their new Life Sciences facility, which will provide enhanced teaching and research facilities for students and academics. We are experienced in delivering world-class research facilities for institutions across the UK, and it’s always a privilege to be given the opportunity to work on projects that have such potential to transform our understanding of biomedical science.“
The firm has been involved in a range of university upgrades in the past, including the new Royal National Throat, Nose and Ear Hospital, the Eastman Dental Hospital and UCL Student Centre.
