External works on the facade of the new university hub building are now nearing completion
Members in Durham are offered the chance to visit Mount Oswald – the £80m Interserve project to develop new college and student facilities for Durham University.
The Mount Oswald project involves construction of a new home for John Snow College and a brand new college – South College – together totalling 1,000 student bed spaces.
On the site to the south of Durham city, there will also be a hub building, with an events hall, music practice rooms, a practice room, a yoga/dance studio, a launderette and a faith room, and a multi-use games area (MUGA).
The hub and MUGA are scheduled to come into use this autumn and the first students will move into the residential facilities for the academic year 2020/21.
Most of the new buildings are now taking shape on site and internal works on some blocks are well under way. The scaffold has been fully removed on blocks A3 and A4 and the team is starting to put in the furniture and interior fittings.
Works are now commencing on the external hard landscaping on the courtyards near A3 and A4. The dry lining works and internal fit out, including furniture installation, is ongoing in blocks A1 and A2.
The heart building for each college will house college facilities and administration services. At the John Snow College heart building, the steelwork has commenced, while that for South College is starting to take shape. The steelwork and roof is in place and work on the steel framing system (SFS), which makes up the walls of the building, is ongoing.
On the university hub building the works on the external facade are now nearing completion. The team is continuing with final fix mechanical (M&E) works and the final floor and ceiling finishes are being installed.
On the new South College the cluster flat blocks B3, B4 and B5 are progressing well. Work is continuing on the precast concrete system that makes up the cluster flats. The new buildings are constructed using precast insulated architectural finished sandwich panels which make up the external walls. These are made off site then fitted together on site – almost like a large-scale version of flatpack furniture.
In the new South College townhouses, B1 and B2, the team is now at fit-out stage and is starting to install the new furniture in the bedrooms.
Installation of the mains services around the site is continuing.
The visit takes place on 11 October at 2pm. Contact: [email protected]
