BCU investment programme moves a stage further with topping out of £63m Curzon Building
BIRMINGHAM City University’s £260m campus investment programme has taken a major step forward with the ‘topping out’ of its latest new facility, The Curzon Building.
The £63m facility, set to open to students in September 2015, will house a new library, student hub and the university’s schools of Business, Law, English and Social Sciences.
The scheme, developed by Willmott Dixon, includes the complete restoration of the Victorian pub, The Eagle and Ball, which adjoins the site and which will become the new home of the Students Union.
The Eagle and Ball pub was built between 1840 and 1850 but it was known as The Moby Dick when it closed in 2007. Its old name will be restored and the SU will become the main tenants when it reopens in 2015.
The topping out ceremony was led by the Lord Mayor of Birmingham, Cllr Shafique Shah, Birmingham City University’s Vice Chancellor, Professor Cliff Allan, and Peter Owen, Willmott Dixon’s Managing Director for the Midlands.
Owen said partnership with Birmingham City University had enabled 140 students to gain practical experience of construction and architecture, with two graduates now employed permanently by the firm.
Professor Allan, welcoming the improved learning opportunities for students and graduates, added: “This, and the other recent developments, are more than just buildings. They will help us to transform the experience of everyone who will be occupying them, students and staff, enabling us to transform the way we teach and learn and undertake research.
“This whole area is coming together and will truly become an Eastside learning quarter at which Birmingham City University will be at the heart.”
Facts about the construction of The Curzon Building:
• There are around 350 operatives on site at any one time – that’s around 4.5 million staff hours over the course of the 12-month project to date
• 10,000 cubic tons of concrete have gone into the building
• 300,000 bricks have been used
• £28m has been spent on the local economy – within a 25-mile radius of the site
• 140 BCU students have had practical construction
• Two BCU architect graduates are now full time Willmott Dixon employees
