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Why should I care? On 1 October there will be a whopping new university called 鈥� you guessed it 鈥� The University of Manchester. It鈥檚 a merger of The Victoria University of Manchester (the old uni鈥檚 official name) and UMIST, and will create an institution of 30,000 students (quite a lot of top-up fees, then) and 6700 staff. Oh, and it鈥檚 got about 拢248m of cash to spend on construction. It鈥檚 called Project Unity.

What鈥檚 the commitment? This is being worked on by a masterplanning team led by Terry Farrell & Partners, which won the job last September. The challenge is to turn two campuses 鈥� consisting of 60,000 m2 of accommodation in 180 departments spear over 55 ha 鈥� into four new faculties The stock ranges from 1880s Alfred Waterhouse-designed grade II*-listed ceremonial halls to 1960s blocks to modern business schools. So expect a mix of refurbishments, extensions,

new-build and landscaping.

What鈥檚 the timing? Farrell claims it is nearly finished the masterplan. An interim one was produced at the end of last year and has gone to the university and Manchester council. Once the final document has been produced, 鈥渄elivery will be implemented over several years鈥� says Farrell.

Who do I court? Two main contacts at the

Victoria University. The overall head of estates is Diane Hampson. A more hands-on figure is David Smith, the head of the building economics group.

Other masterplanning team members include Ernst

& Young, Arup, GVA Grimley and Davis Langdon

& Everest.

Interesting fact: Lord Foster went to the Victoria University.