Work has begun this week on the new chemical engineering lab in Sheaf (4013 and 4014). This has been brought forward in the STEM programme at the request of the faculty. Initial demolition work in these areas will unavoidably involve significant noise and disruption. In order to mitigate the impact of this we have asked the contractors to complete this work at a quieter time in the year, and before students return in September. However staff in adjoining areas will experience disturbance and have been encouraged to make alternative working arrangements this week, where possible, to limit the impact on their working day. The contractors are anticipating that the significantly disruptive work should take around a week, and will be working over the bank holiday to ensure that demolition is completed by the time staff return on Wednesday 31 August.

Aside from this deliveries are continuing to be brought in to support the construction of the new atrium, which is progressing well. There will be some noise over the coming weeks as metal grid work to support the atrium walls, and canopy steelwork, continue. Cladding is also going in around this area. As always, we’ll do our best to mitigate the disruption where we can.

Scaffolding is now erected around Sheaf to allow works on the guttering to take place. There will also be some road closures around Pond Street in September and further details will be made available closer to the time.

As we approach the start of the teaching year, we continue to work closely with the contractors to make sure that we are addressing any issues that may impact on our students and staff from September; both during student induction week activities and when full teaching resumes.