Robert Gordon University (RGU) has completed the second phase of its £120million Garthdee campus project, with the new £16million Scott Sutherland School of Architecture and Built Environment set to welcome its first students in September.
Prof David McClean outside the new Scott Sutherland School building
The completion of the School, built by Kier Construction, follows the first phase of The Sir Ian Wood Building development, which houses the university’s School of Engineering, School of Computing Science and Digital Media, School of Pharmacy and Life Sciences, as well as its new library and research facilities.
The purpose-built £16m facility was completed over 16 months and boasts a number of bespoke, flexible studio spaces that enable creative exploration and enquiry across all the school’s professional disciplines.
It has a dedicated spray booth for model construction, new workshop facilities and a high spec AV (audio visual) system with the ability to interlink projector systems throughout the large studio spaces.
The building also incorporates a number of energy efficiency features, including solar panels on the roof to help heat water, full LED lighting installation and automatic lighting level controls, which adjust internal lighting depending on external light levels.
Head of the Scott Sutherland School, Professor David McClean, said: “The new building is a fantastic addition to the campus and has been designed to provide a bespoke, dedicated environment for students. Emphasis has been placed on flexibility in response to the constraints imposed by existing spaces, and the fact that over time, course cohort sizes expand and contract at different rates.
“At a more strategic level, the new spaces offer greater opportunity for collaborative working and for cross-fertilisation between professional disciplines, something that has been high on the industry agenda for many years, and which students and employers alike are increasingly interested in.
“The new facility provides bright, well-serviced spaces that encourage new ways of working while supporting the continued development of strong individual disciplines within the collective of the School.”
He added: “Importantly, the building provides a learning environment the quality of which can be matched by few schools of our kind in the UK, and which is highly prized by students and staff.
“We are very much looking forward to settling into the building during the forthcoming academic year.”
Brian McQuade, managing director of Kier Construction’s Scotland and north-east England business, said: “This project is the latest of a number of high-profile recent completions during what has so far been a productive and successful year for us.
“We are proud to have been able to bring a range of skills and experience to this custom-built facility, which is sure to be well received by generations of students for years to come.”
RGU’s Garthdee Masterplan has seen all of the university’s teaching moved to one location and provides all of students and staff with state-of-the-art teaching and learning facilities.