Latest News

In this page you can find information and pictures of the most up-to-date developments on the project. Older stories have now been moved to the News Archive.

Her Majesty The Queen to officially open the Forum

We are delighted to announce that Her Majesty The Queen will officially open the Forum.

The Palace has today confirmed that The Queen will carry out the official opening during a visit to the University of Exeter on Wednesday, May 2, as part of the Diamond Jubilee Tour.

During the visit The Queen and The Duke of Edinburgh will meet University staff and students, as well as local representatives, before touring the Forum. There will also be music and theatre performances by students.

You are invited to join staff, students, guests and members of the public in welcoming The Queen and The Duke of Edinburgh to the Streatham Campus. More details about the visit will be provided soon.

Street Opens Up

01/12/2011

Complex scaffolding in place to support the Forum’s main roof while under constriction has been removed.  The picture below shows the view over the Street from the Mezzanine level, facing towards the Northern entrance. On the right of the image you can see the new entrance to the main Library which will become active when the whole building opens next year. The grid-shell roofs triangular design stands out clearly as dappled ETFE and glass roof lights illuminate the Street.   At its tallest points the main roof stands almost eleven meters above the Street. At the heart of the Forum the Street will be the main conduit to the Forums services and spaces. Exhibition space will also be available in the Street for events and displays, helping to create a vibrant and inspirational environment. 

New Reception Open

BREEAM design stage interim certificate awarded

07/09/2011

The flagship Forum Project is heading towards completion and has already been highly praised for its sustainability credentials. The distinctive project's design stage has recently achieved an "excellent" rating from BREEAM, the leading and most widely used environmental assessment method for buildings worldwide. The certificate measures the environmental impact of buildings during the construction stage, and rewards those designs that take measures to minimise a building's impact on the environment. In order to achieve an excellent rating, buildings must score 70 per cent or more overall - the Forum Project scored 72 per cent. It scored particularly well in areas including management (100%); use and conservation of water resources (100%) and waste management, recycling and composting (86%).

In addition the project scored two Exemplary Level credits by achieving highly under the Considerate Constructors Scheme and by providing additional water metering in areas of high demand to assist with managing water consumption.

The Management scored well as a result of robust practices during construction, consultation during the design process and ongoing through construction. Health and Wellbeing scored well due to efforts to deliver a high quality internal environment with good quality lighting, air quality, thermal comfort and acoustic performance. Transport benefits from both good off-site public transport infrastructure and on-site measures to promote the use of public transport and cycling and to reduce dependence on the car. Water consumption on site is minimised through the use of low water consumption fittings, water recycling and measures to reduce waste. Enhancement of the landscapes ecological value and measures to positively impact the long-term biodiversity of the site have contributed to a good score in this section.

You can get more information on what measures we have taken to ensure the Forum is a sustainable building in our Sustainability FAQ.

Grid shell roof progress

23/08/2011

Work continues on the Forum's main roof, in this recent photograph. the outdoor seating area of the Terrace cafe is starting to take shape. When the project is complete this will be accessible from the new catering facilities in Devonshire house.  

Great Hall Piazza Complete

25/08/2011

The Great Hall Piazza area, at the top of Stocker Road, is complete and contractor Sir Robert McAlpine will be taking down the surrounding safety hoardings during the course of tomorrow afternoon. We anticipate that this new space will become fully available for public use by Friday evening. 

This is a signifiant landmark for the ambitious project. Not only will the eye-catching piazza area act as a meeting point for those in the centre of campus and be used for different performances and events throughout the year, but it also marks the reopening of the Great Hall after more than a year. The Great Hall Piazza opening comes just ahead of the prestigious EARLI conference, a major international education event, which takes place on campus next week. 

This is the latest section of the Forum Project to have been completed during the course of this year. The first section of the project, the refurbished Library Level -1 opened in January and proved popular with campus users, while Library level +1 is now also fully open and features a range of new study spaces and facilities for everyone. Meanwhile, the new University reception is also heading towards completion and will open during September. More details will, of course, be provided in due course.

We believe that the current Capital Development Programme, and projects such as the Forum, will strengthen Exeter’s reputation in the long-term. However we realise the building work can been challenging at times and wish to thank you for your patience.

Terrace Restaurant kitchen facilities handed over

05/08/2011

The newly named Devonshire House kitchen and restaurant area the ‘Terrace Restaurant’ was handed back to Campus Services on Tuesday 2nd August, after a 12 month refurbishment period as part of the Forum project.

The improvements, to what was previously know as the Re:fresh dining room, include a newly fitted open plan kitchen and a new servery area. These new features allow customers to watch the chefs in a theatre style environment and the new layout provides better flow and comfort for customers. An outdoor terrace area has also been created for up to 80 customers, which brings the total capacity to 330. The whole space has received a contemporary make over which has included lime green wall and floor colours, updated lighting, white granite tops and stainless steel finishes.

The first day of trading for the new outlet will be Saturday 17th September for the Open Day, following this the restaurant will open from the beginning of Fresher’s Week (Monday 26th September).

The newly improved facilities will provide longer opening hours, than those previously available on campus, by offering a 8am to 8pm service Monday to Thursday and 8am to 4pm service on a Friday during term time. Vacation times will be from 8am to 3pm Monday to Friday. Food will be served all day offering a range of breakfast, lunch and dinner options as well as all day snacks. Starbucks Coffee, Hot Chocolate and Tea will also be available, along with a range of cold drinks. The kitchen will also provide a restaurant service for functions and events in both the Terrace Restaurant and also the Great Hall, ranging from the Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra, to conference dinners and Christmas parties.

Tower Crane Removal (TC2)

04/08/2011

As you may be aware, the £275 million investment programme on Streatham Campus is heading towards completion.The flagship Forum Project is continuing to progress well, with works to create the new University reception and Great Hall piazza now entering the final stages. The main contractor for the Forum Project, Sir Robert McAlpine is now in a position to remove the two large cranes that have serviced the Forum Project for the past year.

Due to the complex and specialist nature of such an operation, an entire weekend is required to be set aside to complete the removal of each crane. Works are also weather dependent, so can take longer to complete if conditions become unsuitable. This weekend will see the removal of Tower Crane 2, which is located opposite the new INTO Academic Centre on Stocker Road. Two large mobile cranes will be used to remove the tower crane in sections, before they are transported away from the campus by heavy goods vehicles. These works have been scheduled to begin at 1pm on Friday, August 5th and completed by Sunday afternoon, again weather permitting.

The mobile cranes will be located in the INTO Academic Centre car park, which will be closed from Thursday night until Friday afternoon. A section comprising of around half the car park area will then be re-opened for use over the weekend. Pedestrian access via a fenced walkway from the plantation path, and all fire escape routes for the INTO building, will also be maintained at all times. The work is expected to be carried out from dawn until dusk over the weekend, and is likely to lead to short interruptions to the normal traffic flow on campus as vehicles are manoeuvred into position. The removal of Tower Crane 1, which is located next to the Library, is scheduled for early to mid September, again weather permitting. More details will be given closer to the time.

Please accept our apologies in advance for any inconvenience this may cause, and thank you for your patience while these works are carried out. Should you have any further queries regarding this matter, please do not hesitate to contact the Forum Project Team

Update: A video of the tower crane being removed is available on the Quite Interesting page.