Newcastle city centre’s Science Central is a twenty-four-acre science and technology facility located on the old site of the Scottish & Newcastle brewery. The science hub is a £350 million pound investment in Newcastle University.
A recent plan to spend £29 million pounds on a new teaching & learning centre has been approved. The centre will accommodate 750 people in its auditorium and a further 200 people in the collaborative lecture theatre, with additional seminar rooms on its top floors. The new center will provide state-of-the-art learning facilities for up to 2,200 students across its three floors.
Newcastle Teaching & Learning Centre Gets Green Light
The centre is designed by London architecture giant Sheppard Robson. The building will feature a curved design to connect two separate public spaces all to be contained within the Science Central masterplan. The auditorium is designed by Newcastle-born mathematician Louis Fry Richardson (Fry Richardson’s pioneering work defined modern weather forecasting techniques by subdividing the planet into hexagonal zones). The auditorium is inspired by this work and is expressed through aluminum mesh on the external elevations of the new teaching & learning centre’s auditorium.
Professor Suzanne Cholerton, Pro-Vice-Chancellor for Learning and Teaching, Newcastle University, said: “Newcastle University is committed to continue to invest in quality facilities to deliver an outstanding student experience and excellent environment for our students’ learning, teaching and research, as well as their personal and professional development.
“The Learning and Teaching Centre will go a long way towards helping to achieve these goals and helping us to provide excellent opportunities to our students.
“The Learning and Teaching Centre will feature state-of-the art learning facilities for up to 2,200 students across three floors. The centre will also provide exhibition space, café and expansive social learning spaces. Its oyster shell shape, with a dynamic sweeping glazed curve is a reference to the centre’s location on Oystershell Lane and reflects the history of the site.“
