Bowmer & Kirkland has beaten three other bidders to win a contract to build the first phase of a new ‘space park’ for the University of Leicester.
The net construction cost of the first phase of the new campus, close to the National Space Centre, is £14m.
The 5,000m2 building will be home to the Leicester Institute for Space and Earth Observation, and will provide accommodation for teaching, offices and laboratories in two three- and four-storey wings, attached by an entrance and atrium.
The following phases of the project are worth around £66m, brining the total value of the scheme to £80m, but are dependent on the university securing further funding.
The space park has so far received nearly £14m in funding from Research England, which is expected to leverage a further £50m in investments in space and Earth observation research in the city.
Work on the new building is expected to start this year, for completion in late 2020.
