The New Look Beacon Building

In July 2007, renovation of the oldest part of the Beacon Building began.  Wiring and network cabling was updated while the building was surrounded by scaffolding and wrapped in plastic to keep the weather out, then the 1960 panels and draughty windows were removed and re-building began.  During all this life carried on within the Faculty and University, offices remained open and teaching continued.

The renovated building has a greatly improved environmental and visual impact and is much more pleasant to work and study in.  The most obvious changed aspect is the appearance - almost all the campus is now brick clad and built to the same style.  The brick cladding is low maintenance and will not deteriorate quickly -  for example the Octagon still looks as good as it did the day that it was opened by Sir Ron Deering in March 1993.

The Beacon building is now completely double glazed and generally seems much quieter and lighter.  The flat roof is now pitched and tiled which will reduce maintenance costs.  Previously both the Octagon and the Beacon were heated by the same system.  Now we have two separate boilers and a new heating system which should much improve comfort heating - in the past one building has been too cold while another too hot or vice versa.  The walls now have thick insulation behind the bricks which will help to maintain an even temperature.

The Octagon building, shown here, is directly opposite the the modernised part of the Beacon and students will no longer feel that they change decades when they change building.  This whole area was landscaped when the pedestrian and wheel chair access was improved and it has now been fully reinstated to pre-construction site appearance.

The little garden area has been weeded and pruned and gained some new plants including flowering nutmeg, spirea and eucalyptus so Dolche Vita customers can sit outside under the canopy with a coffee and enjoy a much improved view.  After a year of hard work the new look Beacon is ready for business.