North East Scotland College (NESCol) has always been ambitious, not only for the quality of its teaching but for the buildings and facilities which form its estate. Today (May 19) it launches its £65million ‘regional vision’ for the future which puts students at the heart of the College and which strengthens its commitment to the future of the North-east.

Plans will include the refurbishment of Aberdeen City Campus and a new build at Aberdeen Altens Campus. Fraserburgh, where engineering technologies facilities at a cost of £8.5 million will be ready for September 2016 and Peterhead (Scottish Maritime Academy), which recently had a £1million upgrade, will benefit from smaller projects.

Plans commenced earlier this year when BDP Architects were appointed by the College to conduct research to assess College estates as they currently stand and to make recommendations.

The research has now been completed and in April 2016, the following preferred options were agreed by the College’s Board of Management:

Aberdeen City Campus

Built in the 1960’s and 70’s, recent works include the refurbishment of the Tower Basement (in 2 stages) at a cost of £6 million and the Tower & East Block over-clad/re-roof at a cost of £8million.

Ambitious plans have now been drawn up to alter the existing buildings to meet curriculum challenges and create a central hub for the student population and surrounding community.

The biggest transformation will be the South Block at a cost of £28m which will be refurbished to create a new ‘heart’ for the College. This will be a high quality learning space with a variety of areas all centred around the existing courtyards that will be covered over to create atrium space. This will also provide a large, exciting, fit for purpose, social space on the Aberdeen City Campus - a place for socialising, study and informal meetings.

There is the opportunity to create a ‘College High Street’ by relocating community facing facilities to the ground floor of the South Block. This could include a Health and Fitness Suite, a College bakery/shop, exhibition space and entrepreneurship incubation units, thus creating the opportunity of real-life learning scenarios for the students.

A combined Student Services Hub would be included and this will be the first time that all these services are co-located.

The atrium roof could extend over the footprint of the courtyard at roof level and lead to an exciting external terrace space. Externally the South Block will be over clad as per the rest of the Campus and a new College Main Entrance will be created.

As identified by the Aberdeen City Centre Masterplan, there is also the option to provide high quality conference space in the heart of the City, especially out with term time, thus providing an additional revenue stream for the College.

The Tower Block will be refurbished to create a series of ‘Faculty Hubs’. Each alternate floor would comprise open learning spaces, staff office and dedicated teaching space – with the staff being associated with the adjacent teaching, as far as possible.

In addition, a public art strategy will make the Campus more inviting on approach and there is the opportunity for student involvement in such a project.

Education and Children’s Services Committee Convener councillor Angela Taylor said:

“The City Campus vision aligns perfectly with the City Centre Masterplan which, through partnership working, will transform Aberdeen over the next 25 years.

“The refurbishment promises to deliver a top-class learning environment for students and in addition, will strengthen bonds between the College and the wider community.

“The proposals represent a massive vote of confidence, not just in Aberdeen as a place in which to invest and do business, but in the talent and potential of our young people.”

Aberdeen Altens Campus

The Aberdeen Altens Campus is home to construction, automotive and engineering. Plans for the future include a new building and refurbishment of existing buildings at a cost of £21.4million.

The new building will be an integrated facility with workshops, teaching, staff and social facilities combined. It will be a fully flexible facility with large open plan spaces that can be configured to react to changes in the curriculum.

The buildings being retained will be refurbished to ensure appropriate levels of air tightness and thermal efficiency.

A quality civic space will be provided creating a dedicated and unified route between all the buildings.

There is the opportunity to ‘celebrate the art of making’ by providing views into the workshops along the length of the public realm and adjacent street.

Fraserburgh Campus

The buildings comprise a purpose-built further education facility which has been altered and extended in stages since the early 1970s, culminating in a major extension and refurbishment project which was undertaken in 2010/2011 with new entrance, reception, central atrium, teaching, learning and staff spaces created.

Currently, an extension and major refurbishment of the existing engineering/construction departments (welding, engineering, brickwork, joinery, painting & decorating and motor vehicle) as well as the introduction of science labs at its Fraserburgh Campus is well underway.

The project provides circa 2000m2 of new facilities at a cost of around £8.5million and will be completed by September 2016.

There is a continuing programme of new build construction works and a programme for improvement and conversion of the existing facilities, therefore this campus will not form a major part of the Estates Strategy. However, investigations that look to maximise the utilisation of the atrium / social space which could involve a flexible lecture theatre or additional group working spaces will be carried out.

Capital works will be part-funded from College reserves and the sale of College properties. However considerable further investment will be required from central authorities to complete the ‘Vision’.

Principal Rob Wallen said, “The College has carried out a number of estates projects over the last few years including the re-clad of the City Campus, the refurbishment of the Tower Basement, MBlock at Altens Campus, the Ellon Learning Centre and the STEM facilities at Fraserburgh totaling £38.9million

“The majority of work has been funded from the College’s reserve, built up from its commercial activity. For this next phase we will need additional funding – such as has recently been provided by the Scottish Government for projects in Glasgow, Ayr and Inverness.

“If funding were available, the project could be completed in four years with work on campuses carried out simultaneously. However, as funding to complete the project has not yet been secured, timescales have still to be agreed and will be dependent on available finance.”

The next stage is to carry out stakeholder consultations prior to the finalised NESCol Masterplan being presented to the College’s Board of Management.

All stakeholders, including members of the public, are encouraged to view the new plans and make any comments by visiting www.nescol.ac.uk/why-nescol/estates-vision where further information and images can be found.

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