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Watch our latest video update
Our Deputy Vice-Chancellor, Dean Curtis, shares a whistle-stop tour of our key achievements to date in 2023.
WHAT IS CONNECTED CAMPUS?
Led by our Projects and Estates Development Team, Connected Campus is a multi-million-pound investment programme that is transforming campus grounds through six key impact areas (see below) to enable us to achieve Vision 2028: To become the UK’s leading career intensive university with a diverse, equal, and inclusive culture, proud to be environmentally responsible and sustainably fit for the future.
The programme launched in April 2021, and since then, we've created outdoor focal points (Campus Hearts) at all campuses; showcased our enhanced visual identity with clear signage; developed new places; and introduced new learning and teaching spaces to pioneer future careers in a changing world. Watch our first Connected Campus video update to learn more about what was achieved in the first years of the programme.
2023 Summer Works
Docklands
As London continues to expand east, and the Royal Docks becomes the new home for sustainable and forward-thinking businesses, our ambition is that the Royal Docks Centre for Sustainability (RDCS) will be at the heart of this emerging ecosystem. The RDCS will become a regional hatchery for sustainable innovation and enterprise, supporting new and existing businesses with networking and partnership opportunities, and a talent pool of skilled workers, researchers, and specialists that work together under one roof to deliver positive green growth for the local area and economy.
Construction has commenced in the new facility, to be completed in October 2023, equipping us with a range of new capabilities, including energy efficiency and clean-tech research infrastructure, rapid prototyping, state-of-the-art testing equipment, electronic and mechanical component assembly, and materials analysis. New flexible teaching spaces will also be made available, along with space to socialise in a new ground floor café.
East Building – The Street, Royal Docks Campus
Teaching and learning spaces will be refurbished ready for the start of the new academic year, and we’ll be upgrading the East Building Street to create a vibrant ‘marketplace’, fit to host an array of student activities, and built with sustainable materials that reflect the natural world and our ongoing commitment to the environment. The programme will continue to enhance and create new learning spaces that foster connection and collaboration, along with new campus activity trails that provide our community with new ways to explore campus grounds, unplug and escape screen time.
Activity Trails
Three new activity trails are being developed to provide new ways to explore campus grounds on foot and encourage students and our university community to exercise and escape screen time. Visible from the moment you arrive, and accessible from University Square and the riverside, three routes will be created, namely, a Discovery, Sports and Wellbeing Trail.
AVA Building
Continuing the recent developments in the AVA building, construction has commenced on a new entrance to include a large glazed shop window that will (quite literally) shine a light on the gallery area and students' works. Expected completion is September 2023.
Stratford
Arthur Edwards Building
Proposals are currently in development to optimise the ground floor of this building for student facilities (including Student Union social space and self-service catering). This will enhance support for the existing University community, and subject to planning approval, place the Arthur Edwards building at the heart of the new student village.
Stratford Redevelopment
Our proposal and planning application to create a new student village with additional student accommodation (650 rooms) is currently undergoing public consultation, and our plans have been made available on a public facing website. You can learn more about our proposals here, along with the very latest updates on how our application is progressing.
The Dome
This historic monument and Grade Two listed building will receive its phase two final touches, with upgrades to glasswork, heating, lighting, and AV equipment (subject to planning and heritage approvals).
Need more information?
If you have any questions about the programme, please email the Connected Campus team on: connectedcampus@uel.ac.uk.
Hospital and Primary Care Training Hub (H&PCTH)
The next phase in the development of the H&PCT expands and enhances this facility and optimises spaces for practice-based learning, research infrastructure and lab developments - further positioning the University as careers first. Proposals are currently being prepared for planning submission.
Reconfiguration of USS
The USS main entrance (atrium) is planned to be relocated to face the main road, increasing visibility and opening the building up to the local community through a glazed building front that showcases gallery areas and connects the ground floor to the garden. Flexible, activity-based workspaces (Your Space, Your Place) will be implemented including research infrastructure to maximise campus space and encourage an inclusive culture where staff and students connect and collaborate.
Stratford Circus
We’re at the beginning of an exciting journey in partnership with the Stratford Youth Zone, as we take over Stratford Circus (to be renamed) from 1 October 2023, following confirmation that we were successful in our bid to partner with Newham Council to provide a cutting edge cultural and creative programme for young people.
Carbon Net-Zero
Across all sites, a rolling programme of lighting, energy and room refurbishments, plus new Electric Vehicle (EV) Charging, will continue to reduce our emissions and support our journey to Carbon Net-Zero by 2030.