SES Engineering Services (SES) has announced it has completed its contract with main contractor Multiplex on a new £90 million learning space for the University of Glasgow.
Construction of the seven-storey 16,640 sqm James McCune Smith Learning Hub – the first building to be delivered under the university’s Campus Development Programme – has been ongoing since 2017.
For part of the time the build team has had to work within Covid-19 guidelines, with the project effectively shut down from early March until June 2020.
When fully operational, the building will accommodate over 2,500 students. The facility will feature flexible open learning space and technology-enhanced active teaching resources, five lecture theatres, interactive teaching spaces, and several seminar and group study spaces.
SES said its delivery strategy benefited from Prism, the firm’s offsite manufacturing facility and its just-in-time delivery approach to install a raft of MEP services. The company revealed offsite manufacture has saved 7,000 labour hours and ensured a ‘seamless’ installation of services with minimal site waste.
SES MD Steve Joyce said, “SES has an enviable reputation for delivering projects of this type and we were delighted to be given this opportunity to work with Multiplex on a building which marks a significant amount of investment for the University of Glasgow. Despite the challenges of the original build programme, which were then compounded by the arrival of the Coronavirus pandemic, the project team has risen to the challenge to deliver this landmark building. Thanks to the success of the scheme, I am confident that this will pave the way for SES to work on future projects as the Campus Development Programme is rolled out.”
The James McCune Smith Learning Hub (JMSLH) has been named after the American physician who graduated from the University of Glasgow in 1837, becoming the first African American to receive a medical degree.
