The four-storey building will have 7,557 m2 of lab and teaching space, and will bring together health and life sciences teaching with the School of Biological Sciences – currently spread across six buildings on campus. It will also become the new site of the Cole Museum of Zoology.
Subject to planning permission, construction is expected to be complete by summer 2019. The site of the building will be in place of the current Engineering Building, which will be demolished in early 2017.
As it is situated between Wokingham and Reading borough councils, Wokingham is acting as the lead council for the planning application.
The project forms part of the university’s £400m capital investment programme to 2026; once the new building is completed, the older AMS Tower, Knight and Harborne Buildings will be demolished.
Deputy vice-chancellor Steve Mithen said: “The Health & Life Sciences building will provide a world-class suite of teaching and research facilities, enabling us to continue our tradition of outstanding teaching in biological sciences and pioneering research that addresses the global challenges in biomedical science.
“It is just one of several multi-million pound investments within our current building programme designed to sustain, and further enhance, Reading’s status as a world leading teaching and research intensive university".
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