Newcastle Uni launches science block

Newcastle University has launched plans for a £58m Urban Sciences Building as part of its flagship £250m Science Central project. It will house the university’s school of computing science, which will include a performance space, a lecture theatre and a rooftop meadow. Hawkins\Brown, Buro Happold and bd Landscape Architects worked up the plans. Newcastle University professor John Fitzgerald said: “This is a significant step in the design and development of the Urban Sciences Building and gives us an opportunity to make the plans more widely available to staff, students, our key partners in business and industry and the public. “The vision for the Science Central site is urban sustainability, underpinned by digital technology, and the School of Computing Science will be central to that plan.” The designs will be open to consultation this evening. Work is due to begin on the Urban Sciences Building later this year with a planned completion date of September 2017. chris.berkin@estatesgazette.com