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Report of the Council on the construction of a Marconi Building at West Cambridge

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

1. As part of a major collaboration to support the development of a Centre in Communications within the University, referred to in greater detail in the Report of the General Board on the establishment of a Marconi Professorship of Communications Systems which follows (p. 822), Marconi plc have pledged a substantial benefaction to the University, approximately £10m of which is to be used to establish and build a centre for research and teaching of communications and associated information and computational disciplines, to be known as the Marconi Laboratory. A Memorandum of Understanding has been agreed which sets out in a non-legally-binding way the current understanding of the University and Marconi plc.

2. The Marconi Laboratory will be housed in a building to be named the Marconi Building. For funding reasons and to expedite completion of the work, it may be advantageous for Marconi plc to undertake the construction of the new building on behalf of the University, although a firm decision on this has yet to be taken. It is proposed that the facility be built as Phase 3 of that part of the West Cambridge development on which the Computer Laboratory Building and the Microsoft Research Building are being constructed, as shown on the attached plan. The building for the Computer Laboratory at West Cambridge was the subject of a Report by the Council published on 9 December 1998 (Reporter, 1998-99, p. 237). The total area remaining on the site is 8,890 sq.m. The outline planning approval granted for the West Cambridge development allows for a further building and the remaining maximum permitted development on this site is 4,102 sq.m. gross external area.

3. To accord with the Master Plan for West Cambridge and the other buildings on this site the height of the Marconi Building is likely to be limited to three storeys. The University will grant Marconi plc a renewable ten-year lease at a market rate for one floor of the new building, and anticipates that the remainder of the Marconi Building will be occupied by the University.

4. The Council recommend:

I. That approval be given for the construction of a Marconi Building, as proposed in this Report.

II. That the Director of Estate Management be authorized to apply for detailed planning consent in due course.

III. That, conditional on the University undertaking the construction work, the Treasurer be authorized to accept a tender for the building and all associated works in due course, subject to full funding being available.

12 June 2000

ALEC N. BROERS, Vice-Chancellor
A. J. BADGER
A. L. R. FINDLAY
L. GROO
DAVID HARRISON
GORDON JOHNSON
DONALD LAMING
MELISSA LANE
JOHN A. LEAKE
A. M. LONSDALE
M. D. MACLEOD
ONORA O'NEILL
M. PEPPER
JEREMY SANDERS
M. SARDY
M. SCHOFIELD
DAVID M. THOMPSON
R. E. THORNTON
Plan of Marconi site

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Cambridge University Reporter, 14 June 2000
Copyright © 2000 The Chancellor, Masters and Scholars of the University of Cambridge.