Work starts on refurb of university’s sport and healthcare facilities

Work has started on the refurbishment of sport and healthcare facilities at the University of Wolverhampton’s Walsall Campus following a £6m funding boost from the Office for Students (OfS).

The OfS awarded £432m in capital funding to support investment in new buildings, facilities and equipment for universities and colleges across England earlier this year.

Birmingham-based contractor Seddon Construction and Glancy Nicholls Architects are working with the University Estates Capital Department supported by project management companies, Faithful+Gould and EDGE on the refurbishment which started in July.

The refurbishment project will overhaul existing facilities in the University’s Jerome K Jerome and Sister Dora buildings at Walsall Campus creating an improved performance gym and a suite of learning spaces and facilities.

Refurbishment work carried out will create a suite of modern, multidisciplinary facilities in the University’s School of Allied Health and Midwifery (SAH) and the School of Sport (SoS) providing state of the art skills-based teaching facilities.

Professor Alex Forsythe, dean of the Faculty of Education, Health and Wellbeing at the university, said: “Demand for our degree courses is high but our current facilities limit student numbers which is why securing this incredible amount of funding is an amazing achievement for the faculty.

“These refurbishments will enable us to increase student numbers on existing courses and expand our provision to Dietetics and Clinical Exercise Physiology, with the intention of enrolling many more students across these courses in the coming years.

“The advanced equipment, learning spaces and facilities will provide an unmatched experience for our students, inspiring, challenging, connecting and engendering a passion for learning to boost their employability, grow student numbers to better meet demand and address the skills needs of our local communities.

“In response to regional demand, this project will allow us to create a space that will enable us to not only increase the number of specialists trained to support the employer demand in the local areas, but to ensure our courses are industry relevant and enhance the employability and skills of our students.”

£4.8m was also recently invested in nursing and health lab facilities in the University’s Sister Dora Building.

The refurbishment project is due to be completed in the autumn of 2023.