Constructed during the 1960s, the Cockcroft building provides approximately 15,400m2 of accommodation over ten storeys, including teaching rooms, laboratories, workshops, offices, students union and restaurant facilities.

This major refurbishment project emerged primarily as a means to replace mechanical and electrical services that are now past their service life. The level of disruption caused by the replacement of the services necessitated a more extensive refurbishment of the building as the only cost effective approach.

The project is inherently complex and will be the first major refurbishment undertaken by the university. The logistics and planning of the refurbishment of a building that will continue in use is considerably more challenging than a new build project.

Fraser Brown MacKenna Architects were appointed as lead consultants of a multidisciplinary design team to undertake a feasibility study and to develop proposals for the refurbishment of the building.The proposed design includes the following:

• Demolition of all internal walls and creation of new, state of the art teaching learning and admin spaces;
• New roof finishes and insulation;
• Replacement of existing windows;
• Improve energy efficiency, with consequent reductions in CO2 emissions and running costs.