Plans for £12.5 million science building unveiled
UCLan honours forensic pioneer
UCLan has announced exciting new plans to build a new facility that will significantly expand laboratory capacity for its forensic science students. The new building is to be named after an eminent local caseworker renowned as one of the country’s greatest pioneers of forensic science.
The £12.5 million JB Firth building will honour the work of James Brierley Firth, who set up the North West’s first Forensic Science Laboratory in Preston and led the way for the creation of a regionalised forensic science service for the police.
The new University building will provide extensive laboratory facilities, designed to house over 160 students across four laboratories, with two rooms for chemistry teaching, one analytical lab and one fire lab. It will also become the first building on campus to achieve the BREEAM ‘Excellent’ standard for construction.
“As one of the first universities to offer forensic science courses we look forward to building on our heritage with the JB Firth extension project. We're very excited about the opportunities the new facilities will bring to our students,” commented Dr Lee Chatfield, Head of the School of Forensic and Investigative Sciences. “We are also pleased to be able to pay tribute to James Firth, who has made such a mark on both the local area and the world of forensic science.”
The building will house the schools of Forensic & Investigative Sciences and Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences and will be an extension of the Maudland building, where both schools are currently based, on Maudland Bank.
19 May 2009
