Academic Space

Milestone moment for new academic space at the Penryn Campus

A significant milestone has been reached in a major development refurbishing and upgrading academic and social spaces at the University of Exeter’s Penryn Campus, which it shares with Falmouth University.

Midas Construction has completed a new academic extension, called the Exchange Courtyard, at the campus. It’s a key element of a wider £4.4 million design and build project to upgrade academic and social facilities as part of the Future Spaces plan.

Future Spaces is the result of extensive consultation with campus users and is transforming the heart of Penryn Campus, creating high quality, flexible learning spaces and vibrant social environments.

The Exchange Courtyard building provides 450m² of new academic space for Penryn Campus, and includes six 20-25 seat seminar rooms, two 15-18 seat seminar rooms, six tutorial rooms and informal study booths. One of the rooms features a black box environment which supports flexibility in teaching approaches through the provision of a fully IT and AV-enabled environment.

Midas Construction is also carrying out extensive refurbishment and remodelling of social space as part of the Future Spaces programme on campus, which is due for completion in December. This will improve and enhance the experience of students and other campus users and includes an extension of the Stannary restaurant to provide a new Sustainability Café and student bar, as well as external landscaping in the heart of campus.

This project is being completed for Falmouth Exeter Plus (FX Plus), which manages and delivers services at Falmouth, Penryn and Truro campuses on behalf of the University of Exeter and Falmouth University.

Mike Borkowski, Business Development Director at Midas Construction, said: “We are thrilled to have achieved this significant milestone in the project and to see the new building ready to welcome its first students. These new academic spaces are a top quality addition to this thriving campus, which will help to provide an exceptional learning environment for people studying here.

“We have worked closely with our customers FX Plus throughout this build and we are looking forward to celebrating the completion of the project with them at the end of the year.”

Sarah Roby, FX Plus Estates Director, said: “I am delighted to see the first part of the Future Spaces plan come to fruition – it’s a really attractive and accessible area for students to enjoy and offers much needed extra space. A big thanks to contractors Midas and the FX Plus teams who continued to work on this ambitious project during the Covid crisis while ensuring all employees’ and campus users’ safety.”

Date: 6 November 2020