Turf cutting celebrates new hub for Cornwall Campus

The Exchange is a £10 million world-class learning facility at the heart of the shared campus where students from the University of Exeter and University College Falmouth and will study, reflect, seek and receive advice and support. Due to be ready for occupancy in 2012, The Exchange will form the heart of the Cornwall Campus.

Professor Mark Overton, Deputy Vice Chancellor of the University of Exeter said “The Exchange is at the heart of our vision to create the best possible student experience on the Campus. It will be a fantastic space for all our students ¬and will give them world-class facilities for studying, socialising and receiving support. Featuring natural lighting and ventilation, the design reflects our commitment to environmental sustainability, which is also central to the design of our Environment and Sustainability Institute, now being built on the Campus. ”

Professor Anne Carlisle, Rector & CEO of UCF said, “Designed in consultation with staff and students, The Exchange will be connected to the existing Learning Resource Centre and is central to achieving our vision of a world class campus for Cornwall here at Tremough. The student population on campus is predicted to rise from the current figure of approximately 4,000 to around 5000 by 2016; The Exchange will support this growth through enhanced facilities.”

Carleen Kelemen, Director of the Convergence Partnership Office for Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly, said, “The Combined Universities in Cornwall is at its heart an economic regeneration project and to ensure that this ambitious outcome is achieved it is vital that we invest in the educational infrastructure that underpins the research institutes and innovation centres that have a more direct relationship with business. ERDF Convergence investment is playing a key role in developing these synergies for economic regeneration here at Tremough.”

Dr Sue Brownlow, Director of CUC said:“The Exchange is yet another fine example of how working together is helping Cornwall’s Higher Education (HE) institutions to help Cornwall. Together with the recent opening of new HE facilities at Truro & Penwith College’s Penzance Campus, this latest development at Tremough highlights yet again the continued excellence of the education on offer here.”

The Exchange is being constructed by the Leadbitter Group, which is also building the University of Exeter’s Environment and Sustainability Institute, University’s College Falmouth’s Academy for Innovation & Research and Cornwall Council’s Tremough Innovation Centre. The Exchange has been designed to achieve a BREEAM Excellent rating, a measure of environmental sustainability.

The Exchange has been enabled by investment of £4.37 million from HEFCE (the Higher Education Funding Council for England), £3 million from the ERDF (European Regional Development Fund) Convergence Programme, £1 million from South West RDA (Regional Development Agency), and a combined investment of almost £2 million from the University College Falmouth and the University of Exeter.