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Take your first steps into MECD

05 Dec 2019

Your opportunity to take a tour of MECD

An aerial shot of the MECD site taken by a drone

Any journey between North and South campus is not complete without taking a look at the site of Manchester Engineering Campus Development (MECD). The new home for engineering and material science already has an impressive presence on campus, and with over 76,000 m2 of floor space, its scale is difficult to take in when just passing by.

If you can’t wait until we open for business in September 2021, you’re in luck! Tours to see the new facilities are available every week, meaning you can get a preview of what to expect when the doors open for this fantastic £420m project.

There are a few ways to sneak a peek into this exciting new development. The first is the Wednesday tour, taking place every week from 4pm-5pm. This tour is operated and delivered by one of the senior members of staff working on the construction from Balfour Beatty.

Wednesday tours can be tailored to suit your needs, showcases the variety of spaces in MECD and visitors can find out more about the construction, planning and engineering that takes place when constructing a complex and specialist new development.

Friday tours are led by a member of staff from the Faculty of Science and Engineering project team each week from 10:30am-11:30am. These tours are split into three different routes:

  • Teaching and learning – take a tour of our student-centric and teaching focused spaces. This includes the blended lecture theatres, workshops, makerspace and study spaces.
  • Technical and research – MECD will be home to some of the most advanced lab spaces on campus, built to accommodate some incredible engineering and material science equipment. If you want to know more about our labs and technical spaces this is the tour for you.
  • Key spaces – combining both of the above, the key spaces tour will give you an overall view into the innovative new spaces coming in MECD and bring you up to speed on the development as a whole. 

Neil Stubbs, MECD Project Director said: “The tours of MECD are a great way to get an insight into some of the exciting new spaces that will be available to our staff and students in 2021. Following completion of the MEC Hall façade, the internal spaces are really beginning to come to life as the fitting out takes shape. Visitors are now able to view areas that are reaching completion and gain a valuable impression of how the new environments will look and operate.”

If you are interested in taking a tour of MECD, please email Joe Beeso-Cope to confirm availability. Tours can accommodate up to 10 people per tour. If you are booking a Friday tour, please clarify if you would like to take the Teaching and Learning, Technical and Research or Key Spaces tour.