The University of Leicester has unveiled plans for a £12.6m Cardiovascular Research Centre that will double the amount of space available for world-class heart research.
The University has announced that Morgan Sindall has been awarded the contract to construct the University of Leicester's new Cardiovascular Research Centre (CRC) at Leicester's Glenfield Hospital.
The four-storey extension is at the hospital's existing clinical sciences wing which houses the University's medical research and teaching facilities. The 2,200m² facility will further strengthen and consolidate Leicester's position as a leading international centre for heart research. The centre has been designed by ADP architects in Birmingham.
Professor Nilesh Samani, British Heart Foundation Professor of Cardiology at the University of Leicester, said: "The CRC will provide high quality laboratory and academic space that will be essential in realising our bold and novel research vision and will ultimately benefit families and patients whose lives have been affected by cardiovascular disease."
The Centre will effectively double available research space with new laboratories, a Biobank capable of storing samples from up to 100,000 individuals, a Clinical Research Informatics Unit and a Data to Knowledge Unit which together will capture, code and translate anonymous patient data for research and will accommodate an advanced IT link between the University and the Hospital.
Steve O'Connor, Director of Development at the University, added: "The University has committed over £8 million of its scarce capital resources to this major project and has launched an appeal to raise over £4m to complete and equip the CRC building"
Nick Seddon, operations manager at Morgan Sindall in Nottingham, says: "This is the second major project we've been awarded from the University of Leicester, following our work on the redevelopment of the Percy Gee Students' Union building which will officially open this month.
"The CRC will further advance Leicester's world-class reputation as a centre of excellence in cardiovascular science and we're delighted to be involved in the delivery of such a key high quality facility."
Work is due for completion in February 2012.
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