ARU Peterborough’s new £32million building, The Lab, has been officially opened by students at the university.
During a ribbon-cutting ceremony on 28 November, watched by partners from the Cambridgeshire & Peterborough Combined Authority and Peterborough City Council, Nimra Hassan, Faaizah Hussain, Kelly De Jesus, Zainab Hafeez, and Shaiza Hassan carried out the official duties on behalf of the ARU Peterborough student community.
ARU Peterborough features some of the newest, most cutting-edge university facilities in the country and The Lab building, which was completed in August, contains a microbiology lab, a tissue culture lab, a range of engineering workshops, high quality teaching spaces and the Living Lab, designed to host public engagement exhibits and events.
Designed by MCW Architects and built by Morgan Sindall Construction, The Lab is environmentally friendly, both inside and out. It connects to ARU Peterborough’s earlier buildings through landscaped gardens, with site-appropriate planting, and is certified Excellent by BREEAM, the world-recognised standard to measure building sustainability.
The additional specialist teaching facilities in The Lab, the third campus building to open since the university launched in 2022, allows ARU Peterborough to offer a much wider range of employment-focused courses, the majority of which are available to start this January.
Undergraduate courses starting in January range from Biomedical Sciences to Business & Management and Cyber Security & Forensic Computing to Construction Management, while Public Health Promotion, Sustainable Supply Chain Management, International Business Management, Business Data Analytics and Healthcare Leadership & Management are available to study at postgraduate level.
Professor Ross Renton, Principal of ARU Peterborough, said: “We are absolutely thrilled with our new building, The Lab. It’s a wonderful addition to the city and our outstanding campus, which has all the facilities needed to meet students’ career goals and ambitions.
“Unlike many Higher Education providers, the majority of ARU Peterborough’s undergraduate and postgraduate courses are available to start in January in addition to welcoming students in September. The opening of The Lab means we’re able to expand our provision and offer a wider range of career-relevant courses including, for the first time, Civil Engineering.
“Having multiple points of entry for our courses means that rather than waiting until September to retrain or learn new skills, people can seize the initiative and put their plans into action straight away. What’s better than making a new start in the New Year!”
Councillor Dennis Jones, leader of Peterborough City Council, said: “The Lab is a fantastic addition to the city’s university campus. It is designed not only to be used by students, but by the public, helping to grow the next generation of STEM enthusiasts right here in our own city.
“Subjects chosen by the university have been done so with the input of local employers. So, it is our aim that these enthusiasts will both learn and thrive in their future careers in Peterborough – helping us to retain these skills locally and boosting the pay packets of generations to come.”
Dr Nik Johnson, Mayor of Cambridgeshire and Peterborough, said: “I am delighted to see The Lab officially open and want to congratulate everyone at the Combined Authority, ARU, and Peterborough City Council, who have once again successfully worked together, to help fund and deliver this innovative build on time.
“The Lab is a state-of-the-art facility with the opportunities for high-quality learning at the heart of the design.
“The opening is another important milestone in the development of ARU Peterborough and will support our mission to inspire current and future generations in science and technology, further unlocking Peterborough’s full potential.”
ARU Peterborough is a partnership between Anglia Ruskin University, the Cambridgeshire and Peterborough Combined Authority, and Peterborough City Council.
