LAYING THE FOUNDATIONS FOR SUCCESS

Last year construction began on a major extension to Highfield campus’s Jubilee Sports Centre. A ground-breaking ceremony for the centre, held in October, officially began the University’s £40 million investment in sports and wellbeing facilities and the start of wider improvements across the University’s estate.

The development is part of an ambitious programme of rejuvenation and refurbishment totalling £600 million, across the University’s campuses, which will create the best education and studying facilities for students, enable world-class research to take place, and foster collaboration with businesses.

Work will include removing buildings no longer fit for purpose, refurbishing existing buildings, improving accommodation and enhancing open spaces. The developments will support the University’s goal to become carbon neutral by 2030, as alongside improvements to the estate, travel, waste and recycling considerations will be addressed.

The Jubilee Sports Centre, on the University’s Highfield Campus, was named for the Diamond Jubilee of her Late Majesty Queen Elizabeth II and is widely used by staff, students and the surrounding community including local schools who use the swimming pool.

The extension to the centre will include a modernised gym with 200 exercise stations, five new sports studios including dedicated martial arts and indoor cycling spaces, and a bouldering/ climbing wall. It is due to open in summer 2024.

Elsewhere on campus, the University’s anechoic chamber, managed by the Institute of Sound and

Vibration also underwent a major refurbishment in 2022 thanks to a gift left by the late inventor and acoustics pioneer, John Gozzard in his will.

The ISVR’s anechoic chamber is one of the largest in the country and was last renovated in 1996. The upgraded chamber was refreshed with cutting-edge materials, which will enable students and researchers to develop new and exciting solutions to noise and vibration issues, from improving cochlear implants for people with severe deafness, to leading the way in aircraft noise reduction.

The gift also provided funds to upgrade teaching laboratories with state-of-the-art computer workstations for students, and specialised equipment to support learning.

Professor Mark Smith said: “Over the next five years we will be making significant investments in our buildings and infrastructure to ensure we are providing research and teaching facilities that enable our staff and students to continue to excel.

“This significant investment is for the benefit of both the University and the city of Southampton. I would like to thank all those involved in months of planning and I am looking forward to watching the development take shape over the coming months.”