Building milestone reached at construction of health innovation campus
Development of the University of Huddersfield’s National Health Innovation Campus (NHIC) has reached a significant stage, with a topping out ceremony for the Emily Siddon Building.
It is the second NHIC building and is adjacent to the Daphne Steele Building, which opened in September 2024 on Southgate in Huddersfield town centre close to the university’s main campus.
The building is named after the healthcare advocate and governor of Huddersfield Technical College, a forerunner of the university, who spent the majority of her life in nearby Honley.
The 73,000 sq ft facility, expected to open in December 2025, will host new purpose-built diagnostic facilities including MRI and CT scanners.
An impression of what the building will look like once complete
A Community Diagnostic Centre (CDC), the first on a UK university campus, will open in partnership with Calderdale and Huddersfield NHS Foundation Trust (CHFT) to provide access to thousands of additional diagnostic tests for the people of Calderdale and Huddersfield, including MRI and CT scans.
Other floors of the building, designed by architects AHR, will contain specialist clinical teaching facilities which will also be delivered in partnership with the trust, including new course areas relating to the work of the CDC, such as Diagnostic Radiography.
Work with other partners will allow for further developments, including the Dental Hygiene and Dental Therapy BSc which will begin September 2025.
The Emily Siddon Building will also be home to a Health and Wellbeing Innovation Centre for local entrepreneurs or start-ups and organisations looking to benefit from locating with the university on the campus.
The centre is supported by the West Yorkshire Mayor and Combined Authority through the UK Shared Prosperity Fund.
It will be operated by the team responsible for the university’s 3M Buckley Innovation Centre.
University of Huddersfield vice-chancellor, professor Bob Cryan, said: “It will be very exciting to see this building evolve over the next few months, with the promise that we will soon see and use a facility that is going to add so much to the university, but will also help to make a real difference to health outcomes in the local community as well.”
Catherine Riley, associate director of strategy for CHFT, added: “The new Community Diagnostic Centre will bring diagnostic services closer to our communities, making sure people have timely access for tests such as X-Rays, CT scans and MRIs all in a convenient location.
“Being in the centre of Huddersfield means we can give greater choice to our patients and increase the number of tests we carry out and means that some people don’t even need to come to hospital at all.
“We’re already seeing fantastic outcomes for our patients at our CDC in Halifax which completes around 1,500 tests a week and has received wonderful feedback,”
Five more buildings are planned for the seven-acre site.
