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Balfour Give Fry a Try

07 April 2016 | Updated 01 January 1970
 

Work to transform a listed building near the centre of Bristol into an ‘outstanding’ new home for the University of Bristol’s School of Mathematics has got underway by Balfour Beatty.

The development is a key part of the University's £525 million capital investment programme over 10 years and the Fry Building as it will be called, is located just off the Triangle on the corner of University Road and Woodland Road and will undergo a major £33 million renovation and remodelling.

While the intrinsic character of the Grade II listed building will be preserved, new additions will include an atrium which will link to a new 140-seat lecture theatre with a roof garden above it. It is due to open in October 2017 and the university believes it will ‘significantly’ improve the student experience for those studying mathematics as the school is currently located across several sites.

As well as a suite of lecture theatres, offices and tutorial rooms, there will be a wide variety of new spaces for interaction, carefully designed to foster exciting and creative mathematics.

The building was formerly home to the University’s School of Biological Sciences which has moved to the new £56.5 million Life Sciences building on the corner of St Michael's Hill and Tyndall Avenue.

The contractor selected to partner with the University on this work is Balfour Beatty which has a significant amount of experience in the university sector. 

"The Fry Building will provide an outstanding home for mathematics in the heart of the University's precinct and we are very excited about moving into it,” stated Professor Noah Linden, Head of the School of Mathematics. “We will have facilities for research and teaching befitting a world leading mathematics department, in a Grade II listed building, remodelled and refurbished to retain its historic character.”

Patrick Finch, Bursar and Director of Estates, added: “After an extended period of enabling works, dealing with a range of activities from demolition and site clearance within the heritage building, we are very pleased to have reached the point where contracts for the main construction works have been agreed. Balfour Beatty has been selected for its specialist knowledge and for the strength of the team put forward to manage the project for the university.  We very much look forward to working with them in what we hope will be a productive partnership.”

The project is being managed for the University by Capita Project Management with architectural advice from the scheme's original designers Wilkinson Eyre.

Picture: How the refurbished Fry Building will look when it is completed in 2017 

Article written by Mike Gannon | Published 07 April 2016

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