New University of Lincoln science hub set for city council approval

An application to erect a four-storey building, housing the University of Lincoln’s College of Science, will be considered by City of Lincoln councillors next week.

The Isaac Newton building project, which has been given a construction value of £15 million, would be based around the existing Engineering Hub which was constructed in 2011.

The building would bring together all the schools of the College of Science with the addition of a central wing and a 500 seat lecture theatre.

Laboratories, workshops, teaching areas, seminar rooms, office space and catering services would also be provided as part of the proposed development, which would sit on the south-east corner of the Brayford Campus adjacent to the Ropewalk.

The building is named after Sir Isaac Newton, the great mathematician and physicist, who lived in Woolsthorpe-by-Colsterworth near Grantham, Lincolnshire.

The proposed designs for the new building.

The proposed building is expected to be 4 storeys tall with an overall internal area of approximately 7,000 square metres – triple the size (by floorspace) of the current Engineering Hub.

Such developments are required to fit within the constraints of the university’s masterplan for the campus which was granted outline planning permission by the city council in 2013.

The proposed site is currently used as a gravel car park, which would lost along with approximately 29 permanent surface car parking spaces.

However, an additional 45 new spaces and electric charging point would be provided off the access road as part of the scheme.

Existing cycle stands adjacent to the Engineering Hub entrance would be retained, with further stands supplied.

Covered cycle storage would be provided within the development off the existing access road.

If approved, the building will form part of the university’s masterplan for the Brayford Campus

The facility will be built next to the existing Engineering Hub

A report by the council’s planning manager has recommended that the proposal is granted conditionally.

Councillors will have the final say on whether the application is approved at a planning committee meeting on May 27.