TWO massive tower-cranes dominating the skyline of the West End of Glasgow are marking the latest development in higher education in the city.
The cranes – each approximately 86m high – have been installed over the last two weekends on the site of Glasgow University’s Learning and Teaching Hub on University Avenue and will be used in the latest phase of construction being carried out by Multiplex, the University’s main contractor for its £1 billion campus development programme.
The hub is the first new-build in the programme, with the rest of construction taking place on the former Western Infirmary site. The Learning and Teaching Hub has been designed to combine flexible study and social learning space with multi-styled and technology-enabled teaching.
The hub will also house a high-quality conference venue on campus which is hoped to have significant benefits for the city’s economy as well as offering a potential events and exhibitions resource for the West End community. Student clubs and societies will have access to bookable space for their events, as will other sections of student services, including careers.
Another use will be as a venue to encourage school engagement and it will play an important role in the University’s widening access strategy by hosting summer schools.
The architects for the Learning and Teaching Hub are HLM and the building is expected to open at the start of the academic year in 2019.
It is being built on the site of the former Mathematics and Statistics building, next to the Boyd Orr building to which it will be connected on three levels.
The Boyd Orr building is also being refurbished.
The Learning and Teaching Hub will have the capacity to hold 3500 students at any one time across lecture theatres, study spaces and a cafe, enhancing the study space currently offered in the university library.
The university says that its additional teaching spaces will allow for more flexible pedagogical models. Staff and students have been closely involved in the design in an attempt to make it a cutting-edge learning and teaching experience.
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