April 28, 2015 10.05 am This story is over 108 months old

New £850k teaching facility at BGU to replace canteen and dining room

Revamp: An £850,000 investment will transform a former canteen and dining room into teaching space at Bishop Grosseteste University.
Brian North, Site Manager for Robert Woodhead, with Fred Robson, Head of Estates at BGU

An £850,000 investment will transform a former canteen and dining room at Bishop Grosseteste University into additional teaching space as they gear up for an increase in students.

BGU is spending the money on converting the former Connie’s dining room and kitchen into an academic facility.

The refurbishment will create seven multi-functional, flexible teaching spaces on the ground floor of the building which will be ready for use from September 2015.

Fred Robson, Head of Estates at BGU, said: “In the past Connie’s was the place where our students who lived on campus had their meals, but now we’ve moved to self-catering accommodation and opened the Refectory to cater for the changing demand.

“We no longer need this catering space so we’re converting the building to give us additional teaching space as we grow our student numbers.”

How the interior will look once refurbishment work is complete

How the interior will look once refurbishment work is complete

The work, which entails some minor demolition and re-roofing of the former kitchen, is being undertaken by the main contractor, Robert Woodhead Ltd from Mansfield.

The university is also broadening the range of courses it offers to cater for the growth in student numbers expected in the next academic year.

New Business (Team Entrepreneurship), Health and Social Care, Sociology, Psychology, Counselling and History and Archaeology courses will be introduced from September.

Part of the new teaching facility will be used by staff and students on the university’s new Business (Team Entrepreneurship) degree course.