JMU Corporate and Professional Training Suite
This £10m project involves the Refurbishment of Liverpool John Moores University's John Foster building and construction of a new corporate and professional training suite.
The John Foster Building project is the second major initiative aimed at transforming LJMU's Mount Pleasant Campus. This and the new £23 million Design Academy will be completed by 2008 when Liverpool becomes European Capital of Culture, further regenerating the city's cultural quarter and creating vibrant new spaces and facilities for students and the wider community.
Previously a convent and school, the Grade two listed building is an important part of Liverpool's Victorian architectural heritage. The refurbishment and extension project will allow the relocation there of LJMU's Law School from Josephine Butler House consolidating the Faculty of Business and Law in one strategic location.
The development of a dedicated facility for professional clients will enable the University to expand its provision of commercial courses and professional postgraduate degree programmes still further.
Although designs are still at the conceptual stage, LJMU is talking to regional partners about developing a range of bespoke programmes and facilities set within an informal atmosphere.
New facilities are expected to include:
- a Centre of Excellence for Collaborative Knowledge Transfer
- a Centre of Professional Excellence for the legal professions
Existing teaching, research and catering facilities will also be improved throughout the John Foster Building for the benefit of all users. Improvements will include refurbished lecture and seminar rooms, new postgraduate study areas with wireless ICT facilities and an internet cafe.
The project will be funded from University reserves and the support of other agencies. Building work is expected to begin in 2006 and be completed by 2008.
The architects Austin-Smith: Lord worked with LJMU on three major projects during the 1990s. They designed the University's £5.5million Aldham Robarts Learning Resource Centre, a computer-based multi-media facility and library completed in 1994, which is now the focal point of LJMU's Mount Pleasant Campus.
They also designed LJMU's £2.2 million Peter Jost Enterprise Centre, completed in 1996, and the £6 million Avril Robarts Learning Resource Centre, completed in 1997. Both buildings have become key facilities within the University's Byrom Street campus.
All three LJMU developments were awarded RIBA Awards for Architecture, demonstrating Austin-Smith: Lord's aptitude for designing buildings that while functional and practical are also innovative in their use of materials and technologies.
Map showing project location
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