The first phase of the scheme involved a comprehensive refurbishment of the 100,000 sq ft Richard Crossman Building, the current home to a range of health & life science departments, including: nursing; occupational therapy; paramedics; psychology; and student registry services.

The building is next to the new Broadway Malyan-designed Science and Health Building currently under construction and due for completion in early 2017, which will expand the faculty’s teaching provision with numerous highly specialised research and teaching facilities.

The refurbishment of the Richard Crossman Building, which was designed and managed by Broadway Malyan working with principal contractor Overbury, saw the transformation of all five storeys, introducing a new range of innovative teaching and social spaces.

The works included the relocation of student registry services and improved circulation and migration routes around the ground floor, with the introduction of new social spaces and large scale, flexible general teaching facilities.

Levels one, two and three include a variety of new spaces, introducing a new open-plan staff base model for teaching staff, new specialist teaching facilities and refreshed circulation and break out areas. The second floor includes light and dark multisensory laboratories for Occupational Therapy while the third floor includes ‘mock’ prison cells for the psychology department.

The fourth floor supports the University’s aspiration to expand and excel in dedicated research, with the entire floor being re-purposed into a dedicated research hub, providing a modern, open plan office facility with state-of-the-art video conference and telecommunication facilities.

The design is based on a modern open plan office environment, with supporting break-out, social and storage facilities, as well as a number of meeting rooms, specialist presentation suites with high technology video conferencing facilities, and a dedicated, secure arrival point.

Broadway Malyan’s Mark Evans said: “We are delighted to be handing over this phase of the scheme which has delivered the vision set out during the stakeholder engagements and is the next piece of the jigsaw in Coventry University’s aspiration to create world-class health and life science teaching facilities.

“The Richard Crossman refurbishment marks our first completed project for the University and we are now focusing on the delivery of numerous other exciting developments for the University which will further reinforce its emerging reputation as one of the UK’s leading institutions for teaching and research.”

Rob Tallis, Director of Estate Development at Coventry University, said: “The project has produced a total transformation of Richard Crossman, turning it into a modern and open building which provides the perfect environment for students and staff.

“The project was so well designed and phased that already it is hard to remember how it was before. It is a building of which the university can be rightly proud.

“The new Science and Health Building is also progressing at speed and is set to be another impressive development on our campus – one which will further enhance the reputation of the university and also the perception of the city.”