Lancaster University opens new flagship engineering building

Lancaster University has opened its new flagship Engineering Building, promising to provide a beacon of excellence for research and recruitment for the UK engineering industry.

The decision to invest in and build the new high profile centre is set against a backdrop of a thriving global engineering industry.

The two-winged, contemporary development with its light and airy glazed central atrium houses mechanical workshops, 3D printing and materials preparation laboratories on the ground floor, chemical engineering on the first floor with levels three and four providing academic office space, study areas, electronics workshops, research laboratories and meeting zones.

The new Engineering Building is part of a £450m spend on campus in the last decade with a further £135m planned over the next three years which would allow Lancaster University to compete on the global stage.

Milburn said: “Universities are in prime position to inspire the next generation of engineers through their outreach work and by providing superb facilities like this one.” Lancashire-based Contractors Eric Wright Construction were the building contractors. The new building has been designed to achieve BREEAM ‘outstanding’ rating to exceed current regulations and industry benchmarks and to raise the bar in terms of building efficiency in line with the university’s sustainability and carbon reduction targets.