Atkins-designed Poole Gateway building at Bournemouth University officially opens

Bournemouth University’s Poole Gateway building was officially opened on Friday by the university’s Chancellor, Dr Kate Adie CBE, DL. The building was designed by Atkins, a member of the SNC-Lavalin Group, and sits on the gateway to the Talbot Campus.

The Poole Gateway Building will predominantly be used by students from the Faculty of Science & Technology and the Faculty of Media & Communication, and houses a range of high-quality technical teaching facilities for students on undergraduate and postgraduate courses, as well as facilities to enhance the university’s research.

Atkins was appointed to deliver full architectural, interior and landscape design for the new building, to create an impressive visual gateway to Talbot Campus. The building has a striking triangulated external form, which takes inspiration from the digital triangulation of animation software and was designed to encompass the range of technical spaces within, each requiring a highly specific layout with great variance in form, shape and performance.

The official opening of the building was attended by Bournemouth University board members and senior leaders, representatives from the Students’ Union, council leaders, local mayors, school leaders and the building’s key contractors including Atkins and Wilmott Dixon.

Opening the building, BU’s Chancellor Dr Kate Adie CBE, DL, said, “When good buildings are built, the students get a sense of the place, and a sense of grandeur; that is something that makes people in this town and in this county proud. [For] the people who will come to work and to teach, and especially those who come to learn here, what a wonderful, wonderful place this is to be – I think we are very lucky.”

Atkins’ design team placed the health and wellbeing of students at the forefront of the building’s design through its Human Centred Design approach. This involved the surveying of future building users on preferential design attributes, from collaboration spaces and workspace noise levels to control over heating and access to natural light. Using feedback from these stakeholder engagement sessions resulted in layering floors of acoustic-and-light-sensitive spaces with levels of bright and open non-specialist spaces. This design strategy offers students moments of reprieve from the hermetically-sealed environments within the building, which they are likely to find themselves in for hours at a time.

In attendance at the opening event, Helen Groves, Head of Education at Atkins, said: “The building’s design was informed by an in-depth understanding of user priorities, to place their needs and wellbeing at its core. Every aspect of the building’s design, from its overall form down to the specification of materials, supports the creation of a healthy environment for students and faculty.

“Designing such a prominent building on the university’s campus has been a great opportunity to showcase our architectural expertise, and it’s great to see the building officially open. We look forward to continuing to work closely with Bournemouth University to further enhance the campus offering for students, staff and visitors alike.”

Atkins has also designed the Bournemouth Gateway Building for Bournemouth University, a £40m new home for the Faculty of Health and Social Sciences. The building is due to open in September 2020.

More information about Poole Gateway Building can be found on the university’s website.

More information about Human Centred Design can be found here.

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