Dagenham UTC ‘Elutec’ Granted Planning Approval

Planning permission has been granted for our new University Technical College project in Dagenham, ELUTec.

This new type of education facility aims to inspire young people in East London and Essex to become the next generation of talented engineers and designers. Students will combine practical activities alongside theoretical studies through a new way of teaching. Their educational experiences will equip them with the skills, knowledge and personal qualities they need to have a successful career in industry.

The college will be partially housed within the constraints of a former industrial unit to the north of the former Sanofi pharmaceuticals site. A new Cross Laminated Timber (CLT) structure provides a series of academic spaces over 3-storeys and a professional ‘business like’ frontage. The lecture theatre is positioned centrally in the main approach elevation where it projects from the main façade to provide a single point of orientation.

The refurbished warehouses to the rear provide large volume, open plan environments akin to industry, allowing the students to experience industrial scale activity within the control and safety of an educational context.

The University Technical College will be constructed by Kier and is expected to open in September 2016. Rupert Kitchen, Partner at LSI Architects, commented that “the technically-rich project based ‘learning through doing’ ethos is inherent in the design, and as such the workshops will be ‘on show’ and visible on arrival with oblique views available from a Forum area.’

This is the third University Technical College to be designed by LSI Architects, after UTC Norfolk and Greater Peterborough UTC.