Babbage Building: where engineering meets design

Learn more about a facility that will be a state-of-the-art space to inspire creativity, innovation and collaboration from our engineering and design pioneers of tomorrow
Babbage Building: where engineering meets design
 
 
<p>Engineering students visiting the Babbage Building site<br></p>

A first look inside the facility

Our civil and coastal engineering students gained unique access to visit the Babbage Building construction site as part of a their second-year module on Construction Management.
Not only did the in-depth tour of the building development provide our students with the opportunity to experience a real working construction site, but it also offered them an exciting sneak-peak into what will become their new home from September 2023. 
<p>Engineering students visiting the Babbage Building site<br></p>
<p>Civil engineering students taking a selfie on a visit to the Babbage building construction site</p>
<p>Engineering students visiting the Babbage Building site<br></p>
 
 
 

After being on the site visit today, I really hope it promotes the University of Plymouth to everyone around, including all the women and young girls out there that may be afraid to go into the industry. It might help them to realise that it's accessible to everyone.

Frances Burdett
Second-year MEng (Hons) Civil and Coastal Engineering student

My first impression of the Babbage site is how big the building is, how big the scale is, and all the new facilities the University is going to be putting in it. It's really exciting. It's all really high-tech equipment that they're going to be housing in here.

Ely Coleman
Second-year BEng (Hons) Civil and Coastal Engineering student

This place is going to be an absolute home for me. I'm going to be able to come in here, do my dissertation, and learn more from the excellent professors that we have here. Currently, the facilities are all so excellent, but this is the next step forward.

Sam Medlyn
Second-year BEng (Hons) Civil Engineering student
 
 

We can solve problems when disciplines come together

Housing contemporary specialist equipment and laboratories, this facility will bring engineering, science and the arts together, enabling holistic and creative approaches to problem-solving to address some of the world’s biggest issues, such as climate change and healthcare.
Through exemplary social, research and teaching spaces, it will facilitate a new depth of collaboration across related subject areas, facilitating brilliant minds coming together and solving real-world issues.
<p>Visual concept of the Babbage Building</p>
  • H STEAM room
  • H DigiFab factory
  • H VE and Immersive Visualisation
  • H Structures and materials testing laboratory
  • HMaterials analysis and characterisation
  • HComposites laboratory
  • H Control and autonomous systems laboratory
  • H Energy and sustainability laboratory
  • H Computing laboratories CAD/CAE
  • H High Performance Computing (HPC)
  • H Precision Manufacturing / Woodworking and Metals laboratory
  • H Virtual Engineering Suite
  • H Wolfson Nanomagnetics Laboratory

This new building will offer a state-of-the-art setting to inspire the engineers of tomorrow, giving us the ultimate place to bring together students, academics and industry in an environment that not only benefits them but also society as a whole.

Professor Deborah Greaves OBE FREng
Professor in Ocean Engineering

Plymouth is undergoing something of a creative revolution. It is bringing design and digital innovation to the fore and ensuring the city’s creative sector can offer new opportunities, spaces and skills. This new facility will enhance the University’s place at the forefront of that, and mean we can continue to attract and nurture the design stars of the future.

Professor Chris Bennewith
Executive Dean for the Faculty of Arts, Humanities and Business
 
 

This is a landmark project that will have a number of significant benefits for the University and wider community. Over the past decade and more, we have invested in our estate and created outstanding research and teaching facilities in the arts and health, ocean science and sustainability. This project will enable us to build on our existing expertise in engineering and design, and provide staff and students with a facility that matches their aspirations and enables them to push the boundaries in addressing real-world challenges.

Professor Judith Petts CBE
Vice-Chancellor of the University of Plymouth