The new building

The new postgraduate statistics building is currently under construction. It is an innovative building, both educationally, and architecturally. On the ground floor, there will be a much needed space for postgraduate statistics courses - both for our own MSc students and those of other departments wishing to learn statistics. In addition, we will use the space for postgradaute training of students from other universities. The space wil also form a short courses centre and has been designated as an ESRC Regional Training Centre, There will be a 50-seat lecture theatre with automatic digital video recording and two large computer rooms. Another of the rooms will contain an access grid node, to allow distance learning courses to be given online to students in other universities.

On the first floor, there will be open areas for Msc students and staff, and learning zones where postgraduate students and staff can relax and discuss work. A consultancy suite will provide one to one mentoring to postgraduate students from other disciplines, and well as providing training opportunities to our own students. A glass bridge will connect the new building to the old department.

The architects of the building are John McAslan and partners. They have been involved in many high-profile buildings, including the London Roundhouse, and the De La Warr pavillion in Bexhill - and are working on the difficult challenge of a redesign of Birmingham New Street station. Our brief to the architect was for a building full of light which will attract postgraduate students and staff to meet informally and allow high degrees of interaction. McAslan have designed a radical building which is aiming for the highest level of environmental quality. This is achieved through solar chimneys, which cool the building in summer and recycle and recover heat in winter. A glass wall allows views of the surronding parkland and a reed lake allows .