Courses kick off at ARU Peterborough’s inspiring new facility
A wide range of undergraduate and postgraduate courses recently began at ARU Peterborough’s newly completed £32m facility called The Lab, which was delivered by Morgan Sindall Construction’s Cambridgeshire business.
The third phase of the development was completed last year, with the facility officially opened to students and researchers at a ceremony on the 28th November and most courses started in January this year. The project has been a collaboration between the Cambridgeshire & Peterborough Combined Authority, Peterborough City Council, and Anglia Ruskin University (ARU), and was procured through the Pagabo framework.
The Lab, the campus’ second teaching building, is an accessible, interactive science facility and education space which has expanded the number of places for science, technology, engineering and maths (STEM) students.
It has been designed to engage and inspire visitors in STEM topics and incorporates specialist teaching labs for students, including in microbiology and engineering, as well as a tissue culture lab, other high quality, flexible teaching spaces and a social learning space, called the Living Lab.
The recently opened facility forms part of a pedestrian-friendly campus and has the flexibility to host a variety of public events, exhibitions, and education opportunities with local school collaborations, immersive displays, talks, forums and evening classes.
The new building has been built to meet the requirements of an ‘excellent’ BREEAM rating, an industry-standard benchmark of sustainability in the built environment. 258.2 tonnes of CO2 emissions were saved during construction – the equivalent of heating 96 homes for a year.
Morgan Sindall leveraged its Intelligent Solutions approach to construction to maximise The Lab’s sustainability credentials. A key aspect of the project which led to these carbon savings was the use of Carbonica, a proprietary digital carbon assessment tool. Carbonica was used to calculate and reduce the embodied carbon associated with the design and construction of the new facility, including throughout the development’s supply chain.
In addition, HVO fuel was used to make the construction site completely diesel-free, saving 81 tonnes of carbon dioxide emissions and benefiting the area’s air quality. The project team’s site operations also managed to save 1.27 tonnes of waste from going to landfill.
Walking and cycling have also been facilitated to encourage sustainable travel habits, with cycle parking onsite, and external landscaping has created peaceful, attractive outdoor areas to socialise and relax.
ARU Peterborough, which is on the site of a former car park, saw its first teaching building, University House, open to students in September 2022. The aim is for the campus to link with local libraries, museums and arts venues to create a cultural hub for the region and a centrepiece within a new University Quarter, which is publicly accessible and attractively designed.
The project’s initial planning application included an assessment of the many heritage assets in the area, including the Grade I Listed Peterborough Cathedral, and established that the proposals would not be a detriment to the heritage interests of the area.
Jamie Shearman, Area Director for Morgan Sindall Construction in Cambridgeshire, said:
We’re hugely excited to see so many students begin their courses at ARU Peterborough’s Lab building, as this high-quality teaching space in the heart of the city will create a wealth of opportunities for students and the community to learn advanced new skills. This will bring positive benefits not only for local learners and residents, but also for the region’s economy.
The collaborative relationship we’ve developed with the Combined Authority, Anglia Ruskin University, Peterborough City Council and the Pagabo framework was central to the project and ensuring that this new facility delivers on its educational, sustainable and social value goals.”
Professor Ross Renton, Principal of ARU Peterborough, said:
We are absolutely thrilled with our new building, The Lab. It’s a wonderful addition to the city and our outstanding campus, which has all the facilities needed to meet students’ career goals and ambitions.
The opening of The Lab means we’re able to expand our provision and provide a wider range of career-relevant courses including, for the first time, Civil Engineering, and also offer January as well as September start dates for the majority of our undergraduate and postgraduate courses. Anyone interested in starting one of ARU Peterborough’s employment focused courses this September should contact us as soon as possible.”
Dr Nik Johnson, Mayor of Cambridgeshire and Peterborough, said:
ARU Peterborough continues to go from strength to strength in meeting our partnership’s original objectives of tackling a lack of higher education opportunity which was holding the city back. The cutting edge facilities at The Lab open up new potential for more people locally to get the skills they need to break into fantastic careers.”
Councillor Nick Thulbourn, cabinet member for growth and regeneration for Peterborough City Council, said:
The Lab building is hugely exciting for Peterborough, not just for university students, but the whole city.
We know our city’s employers are crying out for applicants accredited in STEM subjects in order to future-proof our city’s development. This building will help to inspire interest in these subjects from a young age and ensure Peterborough is firmly set as one of the leading powerhouses in the years to come.
It is also incredibly important that the building was built with a real emphasis on reducing the carbon emissions used, encouraging walking and cycling and embedding the site within the wider city.”
ARU Peterborough is an employment-focused university, with a curriculum developed in collaboration with local employers, giving students the skills demanded in the local economy, helping them into good careers and helping businesses to grow.