"Third Space" University Building Opens in Oxford
A new centre for teaching and learning excellence has been opened on the Wheatley Campus of Oxford Brookes University. The official opening was undertaken by the journalist Jon Snow, who is also the university's Chancellor.
The £2.7 million Simon Williams Undergraduate Centre has been designed by GSS Architecture, which has now undertaken projects valued in excess of £75 million at Oxford Brookes, and helped the university to win the "Best New University" title no fewer than seven times.
The innovative two-storey building has been designed to be very informal with flexible spaces and a relaxed environment where people can meet and chat and exchange ideas (now known as "the third space"). It provides an alternative to lecture halls, libraries and study bedrooms, where students can sit with friends, work on group assignments and grab a coffee or a bite to eat, all supported by the very latest technology. These sorts of spaces are scarce in universities, despite the evidence that students both want them and respond very well to them.
The building is passively ventilated with a central atrium on the second floor, and also contains offices and teaching facilities, with tutorial facilities and interaction spaces. An important central feature on the ground floor is an internet café. The building also acts as an IT hub.
The new centre was funded through a £2m grant from HEFCE (the Higher Education Funding Council for England), which formed part of a larger grant given to Brookes in recognition of its excellent practice in teaching and learning. The main contractors were Bluestone.
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