Campus Development
Middlesex currently has six campuses with outstanding facilities. Four are in London – Hendon, Trent Park, Cat Hill and Archway. The other two are overseas, in Dubai and Mauritius.
In London, we are engaged in an ongoing project to consolidate much of our teaching and research onto our flagship campus in Hendon, north London. Over recent years the campus has grown and continues to grow rapidly, with the construction of new buildings designed by BPR Architects, and the renovation of existing buildings.
Delivered in phases, the current third phase sees the construction of a new building for art, design and media programmes at Hendon. The building is due for completion in Summer 2011 and art, design and media students will occupy the building from the beginning of the academic year 2011/12, having transferred from the Cat Hill and Trent Park campuses.
A new building for art, design and media courses on the Hendon campus
A new art, design and media building is under construction on our Hendon campus. The plans for this building have been described by the Greater London Authority as ‘world class design’. It is due to be completed in Summer 2011 ready for occupation by art, design and media students for the beginning of the academic year 2011/12.
This exciting new building – designed by BPR Architects who also designed the Hendon campus’s Sheppard Library, Hatchcroft Building and the magnificent glazed Quadrangle – will provide teaching, learning and research facilities for some 1,600 art, design and media students as well as members of staff. They will move in 2011 from Cat Hill and Trent Park. At that time the Cat Hill campus will close, but the Trent Park campus will remain open and thriving, continuing to provide degrees in education, humanities and performing arts.
The new building will vary in height between two and five storeys at different points in the building, with an overall floor space of 15,460 square metres. Inside, students and academics will work in specialist teaching facilities, including art and design studios, digital media labs, workshops, photographic studios and darkrooms and TV production studios as well as the more conventional seminar and teaching rooms, exhibition spaces, offices and a cafeteria. Along with the new building, we are also funding major improvements to the setting and quality of the open space and parkland in the immediate area leading to Hendon Grove including paths, terraces and landscaping. Overall we are investing around £80 million on this project.
Another important aspect of the building’s ‘world class design’ is the range of sustainable features intended to reduce energy consumption and thereby reduce the University’s carbon footprint. These will include an onsite combined heat and power system together with an absorption chiller, energy efficient air source heat pumps, solar panels on the sedum roofs, a mechanical ventilation system, and daylight and occupancy sensors for artificial lighting.
Our green travel culture, which is informed by one of the most advanced travel and transport strategies of any organisation in north London, will be further enhanced with the addition of more facilities for cyclists and a policy that will continue to promote alternative forms of transport to the car. These features build on the impressive environmental credentials we achieved for the most recent building we constructed at Hendon – the Hatchcroft building – which was awarded ‘excellent’ BREEAM status for its environmental sustainability.
Middlesex’s Vice-Chancellor, Professor Michael Driscoll has said: “Development of our Hendon campus is moving at a fast rate and construction of this new art, design and media building is the most significant move in our long-term plan to consolidate teaching and research at Hendon. Not only will it be Middlesex’s most modern building, but it has been designed so that students will have the space they need to work, think and create. And consolidating onto one campus in Hendon means that students from all sorts of different disciplines can meet, exchange ideas and work together in a way that they haven’t been able to before”.
Read full details of recent developments at the University.
How the Hendon campus has grown
The growth of our Hendon campus has brought tangible benefits to the London Borough of Barnet where the campus is situated. Student spending has a very positive impact on Barnet’s local economy. In 2008/9 some 9,800 Hendon-based students generated an estimated £48.8 million for local businesses in the Borough. This figure is set to increase to £55.6 million in 2011 as student numbers increase to 11,400 with the opening of the new art, design and media building and the transfer of students from Cat Hill and Trent Park. It is estimated that one local job is created for every 8.4 students in the area, supporting some 1,360 local jobs in 2011. In addition to student spending, spending by University staff and purchases made by the University from suppliers in Barnet also further support the local economy and create more jobs.
The Hatchcroft building on the Hendon campus opened in 2008. It is home to most of our science and social science programmes. As well as teaching, groundbreaking research also takes place in Hatchcroft. For example, biomedical teams continue their vital work on how cancer develops in the body; psychology researchers continue their developmental work observing babies in the specialist ‘BabyLab’ and the computing laboratories are the place where research into communication through the use of technology such as podcasting, interactive mobile devices and social networking goes on.
Hatchcroft has the most impressive accolade available for its environmentally sustainable features. It has been awarded ‘excellent’ BREEAM status by the Building Research Establishment. This is the world’s most widely used environmental assessment method for buildings. It measures all aspects of a building’s environmental performance.
Another very important building that opened on the Hendon campus in 2008 is The Forum. This centre for student life features a range of different eateries, chill out area, the student bar with plasma screens and pool tables and a fully equipped stage with professional lighting and mixing desk. This is where most of the entertainment and social activities provided for students at Hendon takes place. The fitness centre is located on the lower floor, with a newly equipped gym and weights area, changing rooms and showers and a link in to our famous Real Tennis court.
Overall we invested £45 million in this phase of the Hendon campus development, which was completed in 2008.
In 2005 we opened the magnificent glazed Ricketts Quadrangle at Hendon. This busy meeting and social space was previously an outdoor quad. However it was glazed and restored to create probably the most busy and well used area on the campus. The glass roof provides the ‘wow factor’ and our Quad is now one of the most talked-about spaces in London.
The Sheppard Library at Hendon was opened in 2004. Up until now, it has been the largest building we have constructed, although the art, design and media building currently under construction will be even bigger. Named after Middlesex’s Chancellor the Right Honourable Lord Sheppard of Didgemere, it has been acclaimed by students, architects and library professional alike. The huge range of learning resources and ample IT provision mean that it is in constant use by students.
Overall we invested £25 million in this phase of the Hendon campus development which was completed in 2005.
