A ‘heart of the campus’ University of Reading will be transformed after its latest refurbishment plans were approved.
Wokingham Borough Council has approved plans for the university, based within the borough, to preserve and upgrade its Grade II listed URS building on it’s Whiteknights campus.
Known as the ‘Lego’ building, it is a 1970s ‘structuralist’ feature designed by Howell, Killick, Partridge, and Amis.
Originally the home of the faculty of Urban and Regional Studies, the URS building has been only partially occupied for teaching and study in recent years.
The proposed refurbishment would bring the building back into full use, providing staff and students with a modern, fit-for-purpose and more accessible teaching and learning hub, while easing pressure on other campus facilities.
Plans submitted to Wokingham Borough Council say the growth of the university’s student population is ‘positive’ but it is becoming more challenging to accommodate students.
Proposals involve replacing windows and doors, the roof, introducing new roof lights, solar panels and solar panels.
The refurbishment will also involve a full mechanical and electrical services upgrade, two new external staircases and a new detached bin and bike store.
Accessibility improvements and landscaping works will also be carried out.
The building has a ‘significant presence’ and is thought of as the ‘heart’ of the university campus, plans submitted to the council say.
Works will be carried out in three phases, as outlined in the plans ‘demolition strategy’.
This latest planning application represents the third and final phase of works, while phase one is already underway.
Phase one is the ‘enabling works’, which will involve stripping out the building, removing asbestos and demolishing the internal partition walls.
Phase two will be the ‘external fabric work’, including concrete repairs to the facade, replacing the roof, and doing full external window, door and rooflight replacements. The water tower will also be repaired.
The final phase, phase three, will involve internal works, including the mechanical and electrical services upgrade and the external stairs.
While phase one works are currently underway, phase two works have gained planning permission.
Planning permission is required due to the buildings Grade II listed heritage.
Plans have been put forward by the university’s estates team, working with architects Ayre Chamberlain Gaunt and heritage consultants Purcell.
Encouraging approval, the plans said the complete renovation of the building would ‘secure its future as the heart of the Whiteknights campus’.
Wokingham Borough Council has approved the plans, stipulating work must begin within three years of the planning permission being granted.
The project is scheduled for completion in 2028.
