The new Mountbatten Building

A world-class interdisciplinary clean room and office complex for the Optoelectronics Research Centre and the School of Electronics and Computer Science is scheduled for completion in mid-2008.

The new Mountbatten Building will be a four-storey concrete-framed building, fully linked at all levels to the Zepler Building, with an associated central utilities building and external single-storey service buildings. The building features an exciting design by specialist architects Jestico+Whiles. It has been specially designed to provide flexible interdisciplinary space for world-leading research in nanotechnology and photonics to be carried out.

This is the place where you will find all the latest news and progress updates from the site of the new Mountbatten Building.

Following the excitement of the topping out ceremony, work re-commenced on site in earnest with the introduction of heating from the University's district heating system into the clean room via one of the main air handling units more...

Topping out ceremony marks milestone for new Mountbatten research complex two years after serious fire more...

October has seen the bottom half of the Mountbatten building completely enclosed with 90% of the patterned glass cladding having been installed. Work has also started on the cladding to the adjacent Combined Utilities Building with Bovis' cladding contractor, Lakesmere, now erecting the supporting steelwork to the cladding veil that will form the external elevations more...

The Bovis site team have now completed the concrete roof to the main building and the emphasis on site has changed with the construction of the clean room now becoming the critical path activity more...

The recent spell of bad weather has failed to dampen the enthusiasm of the site team. You will now be able to see that the frame contractor, Mitchellsons (under the management of Bovis), have made excellent progress on the skeleton of the building more... 

Today a group of ORC researchers took a site tour around the new Mountbatten Building. Click here to see exclusive pictures taken from inside.

The rainy weather has caused some problems in maintaining progress on the Mountbatten site, but Bovis and their concrete frame contractor, Mitchellsons, have battled on and have managed to keep to their schedule. The ground floor (level 1), the first floor (level 2), together with parts of level 3 and the roof of the adjacent CUB (Combined Utilities Building) have all been completed. Work has now begun on the section of the offices on level 3 that project over the footpath on Burgess Road more...

Boris Johnson MP, Shadow Minister for Higher Education, tours construction of new Mountbatten Building more...

Excellent progress has been made on the Mountbatten project over the last month. Local ground works contractor, Keen Construction, have almost completed the substructure works. Mitchellsons have already started to assemble the concrete structural frame and are currently in the process of installing the first floor slab to join the main building with the adjacent combined utilities building. The structural frame is due for completion in the autumn. 

The cladding contractor, Lakesmere, who will supply and erect the external walls and windows of the new building, will commence on site during the middle of the summer. Lakesmere will install the glass works to the clean rooms and research suites very quickly. This will also provide a protected environment which is necessary for construction of the internal clean rooms, due to begin in September. 

Deliveries of steel reinforcement and ready mixed concrete have now begun in earnest and will continue for the next 3-4 months.

The University's new IT infrastructure cabling has now been laid and re-connected around the Mountbatten site and all systems, including CCTV cameras, are fully operational again. 

Overall the project is on time and Bovis (the Managing Contractor) and IDC (the lead designers) are progressing well.

Thoughts are now beginning to focus on the installation of the process plant and equipment which will support the University's research tools and equipment.

The construction work on site continues to move forward with increasing speed. With the piling completed in February, Keen Construction have now constructed the sub-structure and ground floor to the combined utilities building and have commenced the sub-structure works required beneath the remaining building footprint.

Deliveries of ready-mixed concrete will begin in earnest during April.

External cladding of the building will commence on site as soon as the frame has reached a suitable point in its construction, expected to be during August of this year.

More...

Two tower cranes have now arrived on the site of the new Mountbatten Complex. This signals the start of work on the concrete frame. Both cranes will be fully operational by the end of April.

With February’s work now complete the Mountbatten project has moved into its full construction mode. The foundation piling was completed by Stent Foundations at the end of February and their piling rigs have now left the site.

The construction of the pile caps, the underground drainage and the pile floor (by Keen Construction) continues apace despite the recent wet weather. By the middle of this month contractors will commence work on the concrete frame. We will begin to see signs of their work when the first of two tower cranes are erected on site, both of which will be operational by the end of April.

Bovis Lendlease are now in full control of the contract and are resident on site with their offices opposite the project in Salisbury Road.

Completion of the project remains as programmed for the summer of 2008.

Latest images of the new clean room complex being built for the Optoelectronics Research Centre and the School of Electronics and Computer Science reveal a futuristic design that will create a new landmark for the University more...

The reconstruction of our new Mountbatten Building is happening very quickly. The foundation piling has now been completed and work has started on the foundations and the ground floor more...

The Mountbatten project is into its construction stage. The foundation piling should be completed in early February and construction of the concrete frame will commence at the beginning of March more...

The demolition is now over and the concrete peckers have left the site. Piles are now being installed in the ground using a contiguous flight auger more...

Southampton City Planners have given the go-ahead for a new state-of-the-art facility to rehouse the ORC facilities that were destroyed by fire last year more... 

On the first anniversary of the fire that destroyed ORC labs, demolition of the last section of the damaged Mountbatten complex began to prepare the site for construction more...