In December we shared exciting news! The University College has been awarded a £5.8 million grant from the Office for Students (OfS), enabling the improvement of existing facilities and new provision on our Lordship Campus.
Work will start after the Easter Break and will be completed within a fairly short timeframe, with a busy programme of work scheduled for completion by September.
The majority of our students use the Lordship campus and will therefore benefit from the improvement of our facilities, which includes the modernisation and expansion of our existing laboratories as well as the creation of a new 'Centre of Excellence' for our canine facilities. Our current provision for canine at Titchmarsh will move to a repurposed facility on the Lordship campus. The new facilities will offer an improved learning experience and allow us to accommodate our expanding programmes for both current and new students. This will, in due course, provide additional space at Titchmarsh for further development of our animal resources.
Our expectation is that the project will deliver significant enhancements to our 'WUC Lordships Science Centre' and a new dedicated 'WUC Lordships Canine Centre' and are summarised as below.
'WUC Lordship Science Centre'
The Project will deliver a full refurbishment and expansion of our facilities incorporating the following:
- New fully-equipped, purpose-built facilities supporting the practical skills development of WUC's 'science into practice' students, replicating industry best-practice laboratory environments
- A full refurbishment of existing teaching and preparatory spaces, to enable the flexible provision of our wide range of science practicals, from animal dissections to soil science
- Fully digitally equipped teaching spaces, including cameras and large 'repeater' screens throughout, to improve visual access to demonstrations for all users
- The refurbished laboratory space will be flexibly configured to suit our delivery requirements, providing for a range of cohort sizes up to around 110. This will also include additional space in the form of a new dry laboratory
- Improved and inclusive access to the whole building
- A dedicated veterinary nursing clinical skills area, enhancing current provision and allowing for future course development
- Provision of a new laboratory spaces (smaller labs) for student use (e.g.) dissertation research
- Staff offices will be relocated, creating a new, modern 'Staff office area' that includes dedicated, sound-proofed rooms for 1:1 student tutorials
'WUC Lordship Canine Centre'
The project will deliver a modern dedicated canine centre incorporating:
- A public-facing commercial facility for both canine therapy and dog grooming, incorporating visitor/dog reception areas
- A re-sited and expanded Canine Therapy Clinic, incorporating a new hydrotherapy pool, 2 underwater treadmills, clinic consultation rooms, new student classrooms and 2 new large lecture rooms, equipped with modern teaching facilities and all relevant canine resources
- A new, indoor, dedicated kennels block
- Modern dog grooming centre, including kennel space, additional grooming tables, bathing area, and preparatory spaces
- A large multipurpose canine therapy teaching space which will incorporate rubber flooring, enabling the provision of canine practical delivery, including dog behaviour practicals alongside therapy and grooming