By Joanne Ford
Contractors working on the De Montfort University campus transformation predict that the long-running project will be finished in three weeks’ time.
Construction work is still going on at De Montfort University in Leicester, despite the project beginning in September 2014.
The aim of the transformation is to bring the university into the future and provide more areas for students to work and socialise.
However, exterior work is still ongoing, despite originally being expected to finish in February 2016.
World-leading construction company Balfour Beatty was awarded with the £42million contract to redevelop the Faculty of Art, Design and Humanities.
Balfour Beatty is a well-established higher education construction company and currently delivering over £350million of contracts across the UK.
The new Vijay Patel building was the main focus of the £136million campus transformation project, with another addition to the campus being the Riverside café.
The new café offers vegetarian and vegan food on campus. The café sits on the bank of the River Soar and is said to be a unique extension on campus.
Builders have been slowed down by the weather as there was snow in early January, meaning the work could not be done as quickly.
Nathan Woodward, site manager for SBC Builders, the contractors dealing with all external work, said he expected work to be “done in three weeks”.
Students from De Montfort University have complained about the inconvenience caused by building work on campus.
Mai Bloomfield, a first year Fine Art student, has found getting to university on time a lot more difficult because of the building work.
She explained: “It just takes a lot more time to get to university, I thought it would’ve been finished earlier.”
