University of Bolton, Design Studio Project
| Contact Details: | Mike Lomas, Head of Collaborative Partnerships and Employer Engagement, M.lomas@bolton.ac.uk Andy Smith, Business Development Manager, Design Studio, A.Smith@bolton.ac.uk |
| Type of Project: |
The Project has aspects of both a new build and a refurbishment. The building was originally 8 storeys and the top five floors were removed. The remaining three floors were reconfigured and made into the Design Studio - the inside is now completely different to how it looked originally. This was done as it made economical sense - it was cheaper to reduce and renovate the original building than to knock it down and re-build. |
| Start/End Date: | It has been open since summer 2003 and the project took 18 months to complete. |
Lessons Learned
Staff and students should have been fully prepared on the need to engage with local businesses and the community prior to the completion of the building, so that strategies could be developed and the outcomes required from the ERDF funding could start to be achieved straight away. Everyone is now working very hard to achieve the set targets within the project timeframe.
Bolton are in the middle of designing a new part of the campus called the Innovation Factory and lessons learned on this project are feeding through to that one - the building hasn't been completed yet but they are already taking to staff about the types of outcomes they need to achieve at the end. It would have been easier in the Design Studio if everyone had been made aware well in advance of what the new building would have to do for the community.
The large projection screen has experienced some problems and has not always worked as well as would have been liked but there is general support for it - it will work as required but it will need a little more financial investment made on it.
There is a large mesh screen that has been installed that looks excellent but doesn't really perform any real function and is difficult to clean - it was an architectural design feature that works from a decorative standpoint but has practical downsides.
