£10 million, teaching and research facility opens at the Cornwall Campus

Named The Exchange, and located at the heart of Cornwall’s flagship Higher Education campus, the new building is transforming the student and staff experience. It provides access to the full spectrum of academic and support services, many of which are available 24/7, in one welcoming and flexible space. Designed to a BREEAM Excellent rating – a measure of environmental sustainability – its innovative layout allows opportunities for students and staff to interact, collaborate, study and socialise in a vibrant environment that befits a world-class university campus. 

The Exchange also includes a comprehensive student information service, The Compass, interactive learning booths and a dedicated Careers Zone designed to enhance student employability.

Those involved in the design and construction of the building, friends, funders and community representatives including the Mayor of Penryn, Councillor Gill Grant, joined the hosts, staff and students from the two institutions to experience The Exchange through Illuminate – a choreographed evening of film, dance and demonstrations showcasing the creativity and innovation that is nurtured at the Campus through a broad mix of academic subjects that spans the arts, sciences and humanities.

Led through the building’s social street by a team of performance artists, guests explored exhibitions, installations and performances on each level, from ‘Excellence’ on the ground floor to ‘Creativity’, ‘Learning’ and ‘Futures’ as they moved through The Exchange to explain how the building is all about the exchange of knowledge and ideas, before stepping out into the night where a light show illuminated the Campus’s central buildings.

Contributions from Falmouth included contemporary dance by students on the BA(Hons) Dance degree, mannequins displaying innovative work by Fashion Design BA(Hons) degree students and a 3D computer animation projected onto the outside of the building by students from the Digital Animation BA(Hons) degree.

UoE shed light on its expertise in the sciences and humanities with photographic projections from Biosciences, Mining Engineering, Geography, Geology and the Environment and Sustainability Institute (ESI). Students studying Politics and International Studies presented a series of virtual lectures and representatives from the Renewable Energy programmes demonstrated solar engineering technologies.

Speaking at the opening of The Exchange, Professor Anne Carlisle, Vice-Chancellor of Falmouth said: “The Exchange building is the culmination of the partnership of two great universities and offers both new models for learning and an innovative model to deliver learning in partnership.

Over the last ten years, Falmouth has seen student numbers triple and we have benefitted from more than £100 million of investment in our world class facilities at our Penryn campus.

We will use the opening of The Exchange, and our other achievements, as a springboard to build on the excellence of our teaching and facilities, and further our goal to be one of the top five specialist arts universities in the world by 2017.”

Professor Mark Overton, UoE’s Deputy Vice-Chancellor explained the importance of The Exchange, “This campus is a work of true partnership and its rapid growth is testament to the hard work and inspiration of staff from the Universities of Exeter and Falmouth, and our shared services delivery partner, Falmouth Exeter Plus. The Exchange and our other significant developments on the Campus over the last few years will support an anticipated 5000 students by 2016.”

Rich Pearson, Vice-President, Welfare, for the Falmouth and Exeter Students’ Union (FXU) said: “The students are thrilled by The Exchange which has already made a massive contribution to the overall student experience. Many have said that The Exchange has been the missing piece of the puzzle and we now truly have a world class university campus. The versatility and design of the space along with its contribution to the infrastructure and economy of Cornwall as a whole has really made The Exchange something worth celebrating.”

As part of significant investment on the campus which includes UoE’s ESI and Falmouth’s Academy for Innovation & Research, the development of The Exchange has made a significant economic and social contribution to Cornwall and the regional economy.

Chris Pomfret, Chair of the LEP and Deputy Chair of the Convergence Local Management Committee, which steers the Convergence programme said: “With the 10 years of investment into the Tremough Campus its transformation is astonishing. The opening of The Exchange will compliment previous ERDF Convergence investments such as the Academy for Innovation & Research, the Environment and Sustainability Institute and Cornwall Council’s Tremough Innovation Centre. The Campus as a whole can now lead the way as a vibrant learning and business hub for future economic growth and sustainability for Cornwall.”

The architect of The Exchange was Nicholas Burwell from Burwell Deakins Architects and the lead contractor was The Leadbitter Group.

The Exchange building has been enabled by £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 the South West RDA (Regional Development Agency), and a combined investment of almost £2 million from Falmouth and UoE.

UoE and Falmouth share and jointly manage the Cornwall Campus in an arrangement that is unique in the UK.