REPORTS

First-stage Report of the Council on the construction of a new building for the Institute for Manufacturing at West Cambridge

The COUNCIL beg leave to report to the University as follows:

1. The Council have received a proposal from the Department of Engineering for the construction of a new building for the Department's Institute for Manufacturing at West Cambridge. The proposal has been considered by the Buildings Committee and the Planning and Resources Committee who have recommended that the Council seek approval in principle for construction of the new building.

2. The Institute for Manufacturing was created in the Department of Engineering in 1998 to reflect and realize the University's strategy for the integration of disciplines in both teaching and research to meet the needs of modern manufacturing industry. The Institute provides a focal point for education, research, practice, and policy development for manufacturing.

3. The Institute is currently housed in the Old Press Site, Mill Lane, in the centre of Cambridge in unsuitable premises, some of which is contained in a basement. The proposed development is in line with the University's 2003 Estate Plan to develop the West Cambridge site for physical sciences and technology departments. The relocation of the Institute for Manufacturing will release space at the Old Press Site in Mill Lane for usage in accordance with Estates strategy and specifically for the re-location of the Unified Administrative Service.

4. The new building will accommodate industry standard laboratories, project facilities, seminar suites, research centres, embedded offices, and industry links units with integrated teaching space for senior undergraduates and post-graduate students. The building will be designed to cater for future phases. A design team has recently been appointed and is presently undertaking a Space Study to confirm the building size, previously assessed to be 4,000 sq.m. gross internal floor area. The building will be located at the West Cambridge site south of Charles Babbage Road and west of the South Residences.

5. The projected cost of the building is £11m of which funding of £10m has been confirmed comprising £5m from HEFCE SRIF-3 (subject to procurement approval) and £5m from the Gatsby Foundation. The additional funding of £1m and any further funding necessary to construct a larger building, if such were authorized following examination of the Space Study presently being undertaken, would need to be secured by the Department of Engineering.

6. Further details relating to the design, maintenance, and recurrent costs, with proposals for funding, will be brought to a future meeting of the Planning and Resources Committee, and a second-stage Report will be published later this year.

7. The Council recommend:

I. That approval in principle be given for the construction of a new building at West Cambridge for the Institute for Manufacturing as proposed in this Report.

II. That the Director of Estate Management and Building Service be authorized to apply for detailed Planning Approval in due course.

A plan of the proposed site for the new building is also available:

•  Download the plan of the proposed site