Cumbria University picks consultants for riverside campus
The University of Cumbria has appointed Edinburgh-based RMJM architects, Arup in Sheffield on M&E and the Manchester office of Buro Happold on engineering duties for the 200,000 sq ft first phase of uni buildings in Carlisle.
The Caldew Riverside campus is part of a £100m estates programme announced after the University of Cumbria was formed in 2007 by the merger of St Martin's College, Cumbria Institute of the Arts and the Cumbrian campuses of the University of Central Lancashire. Announcing its estates plans in April 2008 the university said Caldew Riverside would be ready for occupation in 2010 but the timescale has slipped significantly.
Caldew Riverside is a regeneration zone which is being promoted by Carlisle Renaissance, the economic development agency. The site is substantial and has an estimated developable area of nearly nine acres.
The Carlisle campus will provide new build accommodation for the Faculty of Arts and Faculty of Business, Social Science and Sport along with a new university headquarters facility. The Faculty of Education may also potentially be accommodated at the Caldew Riverside site.
An existing consultant design team is already developing master-plan proposals for the campus development, including outline planning applications. The university said the development will need to achieve BREEAM excellent and/or very good.
