Liverpool City Council approves new £100m flagship university building

Liverpool City Council has given final planning approval to transform the former Royal Mail sorting office at Copperas Hill in Liverpool into a new building for John Moores University.

The scheme which is next to Lime Street train station will combine the University’s Mount Pleasant and Byrom Street campuses. Developers Lendlease, who are already on site undertaking enabling works, will start major works in May removing the exterior of the former sorting office to expose the internal frame, which will then form the basis of the new structure.

The new building will be expanded from its existing five floors to include two mezzanine floors and use of the roof for sports and recreation.  The existing floor area will be increased from 280,000 sq ft to 355,000 sq.ft.

The new building will also house the University’s three libraries, a central teaching unit with a number of lecture theatres, as well as other teaching spaces, seminar rooms, IT suites and student union facilities.

Project designers are BDP Architects, Liverpool-based Curtins structural engineers and Arup as the building services engineer.

Sport will be well catered for by the new facility, which will have a football pitch on the roof, an eight-court sports hall, a gym and multi-use studios for dance and other sports and fitness activities.

Liverppol John Moors University vice-chancellor, Nigel Weatherill, said: “Sometimes the term ‘transformational’ is overused but the impact of the new development at Copperas Hill cannot be over-estimated. Here is a structure which lies in a prime, central location of the city, and we are now investing over £100m to ensure it is successfully regenerated, which will lead to the area once again becoming a hive of activity.”

The development is expected to be open at the start of the 2018 academic year.