Mott MacDonald to design new University of Sheffield building

Mott MacDonald is providing multidisciplinary engineering services for the new Faculty of Social Sciences facility at the University of Sheffield.

The Faculty of Social Sciences is the university’s largest faculty, with over 9,000 students making up 34% of the total student population. Departments in the faculty include law, architecture, planning, management, social work, landscape design and journalism. 

The new facility will house three of the faculty’s departments, co-locating them with four others in the same location, as well as provide lecture theatres and teaching and learning spaces. Modern research facilities, social breakout spaces and an innovative journalism suite will also be included.

Mott MacDonald will provide civil, structural, acoustic and fire engineering design services on the project. The consultancy will also utilise state-of-the-art parametric modelling and building information modelling practices to optimise structural efficiency, strength and aesthetics, which will deliver a building that fully meets the design criteria.

Jon Svikis, Mott MacDonald’s project manager, said: “This is an architecturally ambitious project. It will incorporate large cantilevering floor plates clad entirely in a high-performing glass façade, with a stepped overhanging nose that will create a dramatic feature entrance.”

Construction of the new Faculty of Social Sciences building is due to be completed in 2020.