Lancaster University – George Fox Building Refurbishments

After a competitive tender, Novus successfully secured the complete refurbishment of floors C&D of the George Fox student accommodation block at Lancaster University.

Working with Lancaster University

We have worked with the University delivering a range of projects for the last 10 years.

Lancaster University occupies 560 acres of parkland on site in Bailrigg comprising state-of-the-art facilities and accommodation.

The University has been named the University of the Year by The Times and The Sunday Times Good University Guide 2018 and the International University of the Year in 2020.

The project will help maintain the University’s reputation for high-standard accommodation having been awarded ‘Best University Halls’ in the National Student Housing Awards eight times since 2010.

About The George Fox Student Accommodation

The C and D Floor of the George Fox building are sites of en-suite student accommodation, comprising a desk, chair, comfy chair, bed and mattress, wardrobe and shelving. All rooms are carpeted with blinds and all rooms have a shower, toilet and sink.

What Did Novus Do for the Client?

Novus delivered refurbishments to a total 118 Bedrooms across 2 floors, communal kitchens and 2 common rooms.

Each floor consisted of 59 bedrooms, 6 communal kitchens and a Common room.

The refurbishments included:

• • Flooring – Carpets to common rooms
  • Decoration to the common rooms
  • Full furniture fit-out of the common rooms
  • Full decoration to corridor and stairwell areas
  • Installation of new power sources
  • Upgrade of data to CAT 6
  • New containment for data upgrade
  • LED lighting to corridors, kitchens and stairwells
  • Installation of new data provisions
  • Full refit of bedroom furniture to Student accommodation
  • Decoration to Student accommodation
  • Replacement of shared student kitchens
  • Installation of new extractor systems

What Challenges Were Faced?

We were given a tight timescale for the completion and delivery of the project by Lancaster University. From start-to-finish, our team was given 11 weeks to be ready in-time for students to return to University after the summer holidays.

Additionally, the refurbishments works were carried out at the same time as offices below were occupied so careful programming with the University had to be planned along with weekend working for noisy operations.

Overcoming these challenges was in no small way helped by the ten year working relationship Novus enjoy with Lancaster University.

Strong and trusted relationships between the client and our dedicated supply chain have been forged and cultivated over a long period time.

Successful Delivery

During the project, an additional £36,000.00 programme was added to carry out refurbishment works to the offices on B-Floor. This was accommodated our team within the original timescales set by the University.

All colleagues involved on this project worked tirelessly to ensure that we delivered on-time and to a high standard.