Contractor race starts for £45m MMU science campus

Procurement has been launched by Manchester Metropolitan University for new build and potential refurbishment works at the proposed science and engineering campus on the site of the John Dalton Buildings.

In October, the university set out proposals to demolish the 168,000 sq ft John Dalton buildings and replace them with a new build science and engineering campus.

The project value outlined in the procurement documents is £45m, with expressions of interest required by 15 February.

The 1970s-built 33,000 sq ft John Dalton West building and the larger 135,000 sq ft John Dalton East buildings sit to the north of MMU’s campus and border Oxford Road and Chester Street, alongside the Mancunian Way.

The East building is home to the faculty of science and engineering while the West building houses print services.

The plans set out at that stage by the university were for demolition, with a new campus intended to “contain a range of flexible and adaptable state of the art amenities that respond to both modern teaching and research needs”.

Four schools make up the university’s science and engineering faculty: healthcare science; computing; mathematics; and digital technology engineering.

The proposed new-build will include 161,500 sq ft of space, 42% of which will be offices, along with 12% laboratory space, 35% plant, and 11% general teaching, social learning, and circulation space.

Along with the new-build, around 86,000 sq ft of existing space within the university is also earmarked for refurbishment. There will also be public realm and landscaping works.

MMU hopes for a start on site no later than April 2021 with the new facility being operational by March 2023. Any refurbishment works should start no later than January 2022 and be completed by August 2023. Work as a whole including landscaping will be completed by the end of 2024.