Research Hub progress update
Published: 16 January 2018
The Research Hub has reached another milestone in its development with the submission of a planning application to Glasgow City Council in December. VIDEO
The Research Hub has reached another milestone in its development with the submission of a planning application to Glasgow City Council in December.
The £102m building promises to be truly interdisciplinary and signals the University’s commitment to creating an intellectual magnet for staff, research students and external collaborators. It is hoped that planning approval will be granted by Glasgow City Council in late April.
The Research Hub will be the first permanent building on the Western site and will provide approximately 17,000 square metres of world-class facilities housing 600 academic and student researchers.
It will sit at the heart of the Western site forming the western boundary of a new square; an internal pedestrian link between Elder Chapel Place and the new square will create a truly inclusive space for the whole community with a café and exhibition space on the ground level.
Ann Allen, Director of Estates and Commercial Services, said: "This is an important step in the development of the Research Hub which was approved by the University Court late last year. This will be the first building in the masterplan to be constructed on the Western site and signifies a major commitment by the University in supporting our world-leading cross-disciplinary research teams.
“The Hub has been designed by leading architects HOK and it is hoped it will provide a creative, open and inspiring environment for all of our researchers across the University. We look forward to receiving approval to the matters specified in the conditions from the Council and to starting construction later this year.”
The Hub will be a resource for everyone in the University to use in various ways, whether for PGR training, as a Centre for Doctoral Training, or hosting seminars, events or other uses. There will be no access restrictions for researchers across the campus. Teams of researchers will be able to use spaces within the Hub on a short or medium-term basis to support their collaborative research efforts.
The space will feature five initial interdisciplinary research themes identified by the University which build on existing strengths to demonstrate international leadership. Here, Interim Director for the Research Hub, Dr. Neil Bowering, and leading academics discuss their themes and how the building will impact upon their research:
Technologies Touching Life • Chemical Intelligence • Quantum and Nanotechnologies • International Development • Creative and Cultural Industries
Dr. Bowering said: “I am thrilled that the planning application was successfully submitted on 21 December 2017 and we are one step closer to creating a world-class intellectual hub at the heart of the campus development at the University.
"This space will allow for a truly multidisciplinary environment bringing researchers from across all four colleges together with our external partners to address some of the world’s biggest challenges. The five initial research themes going into the hub mark a genuine commitment to tackle key issues. Crucially the building will also create a central location hub for all researchers from across the University to come together and define completely new research challenges that will develop into new networks, centres and world-leading thematic research areas."
The lead architects on the Research Hub project are HOK Architects; it is expected to become fully occupied by 2021.
First published: 16 January 2018