Yorkshire-based construction firm Caddick Construction has been appointed as the main contractor to deliver the University of Cumbria's new Barrow-in-Furness campus, with voestalpine Metsec plc appointed to design and supply the light steel framing system.
Once complete, this state-of-the-art campus will deliver degree programmes in advanced manufacturing, computer science, including cyber security and business management – to help attract and retain talented graduates with higher-level skills to serve the region’s growing industries.
The unique design is inspired by the town’s submarine heritage. The dockside development will contain adaptable, specialist and interactive teaching areas across its two floors and social and library spaces. Features will include new teaching spaces, offices, catering facilities, landscaping and car parking. In November 2023, HRH The Princess Royal visited the site to ceremonially ‘break the ground’ on the project.
Paul Dodsworth, Managing Director of Caddick Construction Group, said the development would help bring new talent to the area, adding: “We are very proud to have been appointed to the University of Cumbria’s new campus and to be adding such a flagship project to our portfolio. We are working closely with the university to ensure the new campus becomes a world leading facility that attracts new talent and serves the industries of the region and beyond."
University of Cumbria Vice Chancellor, Professor Julie Mennell, added: “This milestone takes us another step closer to developing the first university campus in Barrow-in-Furness. We’re delighted to be working with Caddick Construction and existing partners on a project serving our community in an area of such regional, national and international importance.
The development, known as the Barrow Learning Quarter, is part of a borough-wide programme of seven innovative projects across Barrow, which will develop and transform the surrounding area.
A collaborative creation, Barrow Learning Quarter is being developed by the University of Cumbria in partnership with Furness College and others including BAE Systems, Lancaster University and Westmorland & Furness Council.
Inspired by its location and links to Barrow’s history, the campus building design incorporates a two-story building with curved roof line, reminiscent of the surface of a submarine, glazing to maximise natural light into the building, social space and green infrastructure, adaptable and specialist teaching spaces and a gross internal floor area of around 2,105sqm.
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