University of Sheffield’s new ‘superlab’ project approved in planning review

The University of Sheffield’s Central Teaching Laboratory ‘superlab’ project has been approved in a planning review.

The university says the project, if built, will be a “five storey world class flexible and multi-functional teaching laboratory with state of the art facilities.”

The building will contain two 300-person laboratories as well as a fume cupboard lab, an anatomy lab, a tissue-culture lab, teaching and study spaces, a reception, an external loading dock, a ‘pocket park’, and parking.

Known as a central teaching laboratory building, it will be located next to the university’s tram stop on land adjacent to Hounsfield Road, Leavygreave Road, and Upper Hanover Street.

The recommendation for approval comes with the condition that the university makes a financial contribution of £15,000 towards improving local tram infrastructure and a 30 year habitat management and monitoring plan covering the new park and the planting of trees.

For the labs to go ahead, the removal of eight mature trees from the building site will be needed. And, as a result, the university has agreed with the Sheffield Tree Action Group and the Sheffield Street Tree Partnership, that they will plant eight new street trees along with 46 more within the wider campus.

Despite the planning approval, work will not begin on the project for, at the very least, a year. The University of Sheffield said last year while awaiting the planning decision, that should approval be granted, they would pause the project for 12 months as part of a raft of cost cutting measures.

Featured image via University of Sheffield.