Manchester Metropolitan University Institute of Sport

Plans have been approved for the refurbishment of the former Students’ Union building on the Manchester Metropolitan University’s city centre campus, paving the way for a new Institute of Sport. The centre of excellence will enable the university to create a globally recognised brand in sports education including sports science, engineering, management and marketing.

Our design for the four-storey building will provide state-of-the-art teaching, research and support space for undergraduate and postgraduate students and academic staff.

The cross-disciplinary institute will bring together world-leading researchers in musculoskeletal science with sports business experts with a range of experts from other faculties. It will offer specialist hi-tech research labs including an imaging suite with an MRI scanner, a suite for bone density analysis, an altitude and heat chamber to simulate climate conditions and a muscle function lab.

Construction work on the £26m project will begin in April 2020 and it will open to students and faculty for September 2021.

BDP is also designing a new seven storey building for the university’s Faculty of Science and Engineering providing innovative teaching spaces, cutting-edge laboratories, academic offices, self-directed learning areas and a new energy centre, as well as extensive public realm works. Plans for the £115m project were submitted in December 2019.

The developments are part of the university's ambitious Estates Masterplan Investment Programme which is set to transform its campus over the coming years.