WELCOME
Trevor Wills, Director of Estates & Facilities
Plymouth is a modern university in age but one that draws upon a proud history and heritage of teaching, research and enterprise, with the mission to transform lives. It is the only ‘post-92’ institution with a medical and dental school. In addition, it is a top 50 research university with genuine clusters of world-class science across areas as diverse as marine science and engineering, medicine, robotics and psychology. We have excellent and distinctive facilities supporting our research, not least our Marine Building and new build at Plymouth Science Park. Plymouth is a truly global university with partnerships in 30 countries, and we have our own international college, but our sense of community is also very important. The University plays a major role in the economic and cultural fabric of the South West, with particularly strong business engagement. We partner with colleges throughout this beautiful peninsula to ensure that the University can support any student who has the potential to benefit from higher education and from the Plymouth experience in particular. As a world-class modern university with a strong reputation for innovation and sustainability, the University of Plymouth is one of the largest universities in the country with programmes ranging from biology to business, dentistry to design, photography to physiotherapy, and marine to medicine. Based in the heart of Plymouth, the University plays a key role in the civic, cultural, social and economic life of a vibrant waterfront city. It contributes a quarter of a billion pounds to the regional economy and employs nearly 2,500 people, supporting circa 22,000 students. In addition to its campus in Plymouth, the University operates from 12 sites located throughout Devon and Cornwall comprising 120 buildings dating between 1844 and 2018. It occupies a gross floor area of almost 200,000 square metres. The total portfolio includes property interests of varying scale and type throughout the south-west. The directorate for Estates & Facilities covers the range of hard and soft facilities management services and employs around 200 staff. The current operating costs are circa £16M. Student residences are provided through third party arrangements with specialist operators. A new management
team and structure has been established in E&F which is enabling greater clarity of roles and a focus on customer service, performance standards, and statutory compliance. The University has enjoyed significant improvements in its estate over the past few years. Recent developments have included the Marine Station, which is a unique waterfront teaching and research facility, and The House, which is dedicated to the performing arts having a 250-seat auditorium for drama and dance students as well as a base for music researchers. Most recently has been the completion of a new £17M medical research facility which is home to biomedical research and is adjacent to laboratories for the University’s medicine and dentistry buildings at Plymouth Science Park in Derriford. A considerable programme of work is being delivered which also includes major refurbishment of science laboratories and extensive upgrading works in the library. A new Estate Strategy was adopted by the University early in 2017 and, later that year, a new masterplan for the Plymouth campus was completed and approved. This signifies an exciting period of new developments which will see investment in the estate of around £250M over the next 10 years. A vital component of this new plan is work to address the significant backlog maintenance liability in the estate which will entail major renewal and upgrading works. The future spatial requirements were informed by a capacity plan that focused on the quality of facilities and also on their layout, configuration, adjacencies, and improved utilisation. There will also be a number of entirely new developments on campus which will place an emphasis on character and sense of place as well as the specific functional requirements. These are likely to include – a new centre for engineering, a new home for the nursing and allied health professions, and a major extension and remodelling of the library and independent study spaces.
Ranked 40th in UK for research quality and impact in the 2016 CWTS Leiden Rankings
UNIVERSITY OF PLYMOUTH 3
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