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Exciting news Catalyst will be having it’s official opening on Friday 18th January.

HRH The Princess Royal will be helping us mark this occasion along with some other VIPs who, will also have the opportunity to view various installations about the work which is taking place by staff and students in the building and across campus.

Due to the nature of the event, there will be some special arrangements in place for the morning, although Catalyst will be open and all services will be available.

Most importantly:

You will need your UniCard to get into the building.

No UniCard, no admittance – just for this morning.

Everyone is welcome to observe the plaque unveiling during the morning, and to view the various displays situated on the Ground Floor.

The security services have emphasised that photography will not be allowed while HRH is on campus so please refrain from using your phones etc. for pictures while our Royal guest is with us. There will be official photos on the University website before the end of the day.

Although Catalyst is open as normal there may be some temporary restrictions on where you can go – we will keep these to a minimum.

Thanks for your understanding and hope to see you there.

Open all day / all night

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Helpdesk hours:
Monday to Friday 8.00am – 8.00pm
Saturday and Sunday  10.00am – 6.00pm

Student Services, Careers and Learning Services have all moved to Catalyst and can be accessed through the Catalyst Helpdesk on the ground floor.

Telephone: 01695 650800 (ext 7800)
Online: ehu.ac.uk/askus

The desk provides the first point of contact for all three services. It offers help and information around Wellbeing and Counselling, Careers, Disability Support, Library and Learning Services, Money Advice, Accommodation, (including Halls Fees team, and Campus Life) as well as Transitions and the Chaplaincy.

We have 900 study spaces, almost 500 PCs which includes 108 loanable laptops.

We offer a wide range of study spaces for all your learning and research needs. In terms of collaborative working, there are a variety of spaces on the ground floor and bookable group rooms on the ground and 2^nd floor.

3 bookable group rooms and 2 bookable presentation pods (all IT enabled)

Group tables and seating

Huts suitable for 3 or 4 people

PCs including specialist IT and software

Self-issue machines

Book returns

Quiet study

Books 001 – 399

Self-issue machine

9 appointment rooms (suitable for individual study) bookable after 6.00pm and at the weekend

PCs

Quiet study

Books 400 – 999

Self-issue machine

6 bookable group rooms – variety of sizes

Study pods with power sockets for more private working

PCs

Silent study

19 bookable individual study spaces

PCs

We also have a new student training room where we will be delivering study sessions; wellbeing; careers events and  our UniSkills activity.  The Willow room is on the 1^st Floor and has a capacity of 20.  The facilities include collaborative tables with full presentation equipment.

There are printing stations available on all floors and 1st and 2nd floor areas also have self-issue machines so you can issue books as you work.  Vending facilities can be found on the ground and 3^rd floor.  You will also see our helpdesk team roving across all floors, offering help and support when you need it.  Please just ask.

We do have a coffee shop on the ground floor 53.3 degrees North, who are on hand with barista coffee.

We look forward to welcoming you to Catalyst.

 

As you may have noticed, the landscaping around Catalyst has started to progress quite rapidly with lovely block work and planting going in near the main entrance.

The plans for the landscaping surrounding the building are vast and compliment the rest of the campus, incorporating lots of greenery, trees, shrubs and gardens. Below are the initial landscaping plans from our Landscape Gardeners, Milieu Landscape Design.

You can see outside the front of Catalyst we have the ‘Grand Lawn’, a raised lawn area with crossing points across the centre, and to the left of the entrance is an outdoor study garden.

Around either side of Catalyst, we have two woodland areas; ‘Woodland Glade’ and ‘Woodland Garden’; the latter will have a raised deck walkway from the eastern campus to the building. Directly behind the building is a formal garden, ‘The Suffragette Garden’ with a central feature avenue and a variety of trees and shrubs.

To the right of Catalyst there will be an informal seating area with views out over the lake and if you approach Catalyst from Creative Edge and the main car park, you will find terrace steps leading up the canopy, which overhangs the building.

As you can see from some of the photos above, work on the landscaping has already started and this is due to step up a gear this week as access to the Wilson Centre (track side/Catalyst side) is closed for approx. 8 weeks.

Keep an eye on our social media accounts for progress photos and updates!

@CatalystEHU on Twitter, Facebook  and Instagram!

May so far has seen the completion  of the beautiful copper cladding (minus the odd panel here and there still to be fitted) which looks fantastic. Photos below, but you really should take a wander past if you haven’t already!

Plastering, interior windows and doors have been finished and fitted on most floors, the wooden cladding on the stairwell is being fitted and the spiral staircase takes pride of place in the large window which looks out over the lake and the eastern part of campus.

Our fantastic interior designers, Nomad have designed a variety of bespoke furniture for the ground floor space as well as bespoke furniture for study spaces on the 1st, 2nd and 3rd floors which is starting to take shape in the building.

Furniture for the entire building has been carefully chosen and is currently under production, ready to be fitted throughout June and July!

There is still a lot of progress to be made and the internal fit out and furnishing will take place throughout June and July, along with the book stock and staff moves. It’s going to be a busy summer period, but we can’t wait for August when the building will be fully furnished and ready to wow! all of it’s visitors!

Progress pictures from May 2018. Thanks to Ian Palgrave-Neath for some awesome photos of Catalyst.

 

Wow! What a busy few months it has been! Since our last progress update post (back in February!!!) so much has changed and progressed with the building project. The next few posts will be updates from the last few months with plenty of progress pictures!

April 2018

April was an exciting month with the arrival of the spiral staircase which will take users between the 1st and 2nd floors whilst having the opportunity to take in the stunning view from the floor to ceiling window which looks out over the eastern campus and the lake.

Underfloor heating was installed on the ground floor and construction of the main entrance to the building also began.

The Coffee Shop was a awarded to Aramark, a company who specialise in providing food services to Universities and stadiums, and a sneak peek at their proposals for food and coffee menus has got us all very excited!

The flooring design for the ground floor of Catalyst was finalised and  Nomad have done a fantastic job at turning the flooring in to a real feature of the building. The flooring on the ground floor has been specifically designed to complement the colour schemes and layout of the building and will be a real focal point when you enter Catalyst.

April also featured more site visits for staff and we were joined by Luke Myer, Vice-President Academic Representation, from the Students’ Union on a tour.

We also had a visit from a well known character around campus, Mr Wagtail! He was caught on our webcam keeping an eye on progress. We’re sure wagtails will feature again within the project, along with lots of other wildlife!

Progress pictures from April 2018

Lindsay McBride

Project Manager

Wow! What a busy few months it has been! Since our last progress update post (back in February!!!) so much has changed and progressed with the building project. The next few posts will be updates from the last few months with plenty of progress pictures!

March 2018

In March we saw fantastic progress with the copper cladding on the exterior of Catalyst which surrounds almost all of the building. It looks stunning in the sunlight and is a real feature of the building. Windows on the ground floor and roof lights on the third floor were fitted, making it feel much more like a building and less like a construction site (well, slightly!) and the plasterboard and plastering began on the 1st, 2nd and 3rd floors.

Our interior designers, Nomad, provided a concept of the colour palette which will feature thoughout the building including in the bespoke furniture elements and throughout the loose furniture items such as chairs and sofas.

March also saw members of Directorate take a tour of Catalyst to catch up on progress and discuss the different spaces within the building. We think Vice-Chancellor, John Cater, and Pro Vice-Chancellor, Mark Allanson, were both very excited about the developments on campus.

Here are some progress pictures from March.

 

Lindsay McBride

Project Manager

Earlier this year I had the pleasure of chatting to members of Directorate about Catalyst.

We discussed the inspiration for the name ‘Catalyst’; how they thought the building would enhance the student experience at Edge Hill; and how the change to having three services (Student Services, Careers & Learning Services) all together under one roof could improve the way we support our students.

Click the videos below to hear what John, Mark, Steve & Lynda had to say.

What inspired the name Catalyst?

Why did EHU choose to invest in a new building, which houses the Library, Learning Services, Student Services and Careers under one roof?

How do you think Catalyst will enhance the student experience at EHU?

How do you think Catalyst will change the way the three services currently support our students?

Lindsay

Project Manager

We’ve been a little quiet on the blog for the last month or so and that’s because we’ve been busy showing our colleagues around Catalyst! That’s right, its been hard hat weather!

Over the past four weeks there have been 12 site visits to Catalyst, with around 140 members of staff taking the opportunity to walk around the building site, get a feel for the space and see the progress that has been made in the last few months!

There has been plenty of mud, puddles, rain, wind and even snow over the past four weeks, but colleagues have braved the cold weather, some even got lucky with clear skies & sunshine, taking in the views from the roof terrace on the third floor.