Building work on a new £7 million home for the Institute of Mental Health in Nottingham will be officially marked later this month with a ground-breaking ceremony.
The Institute, currently based within the Sir Colin Campbell Building on The University of Nottingham’s Jubilee Campus, will be moving 200 metres along Triumph Road to bespoke new accommodation on the campus.
Construction work on the four-storey building begins this month and it is planned that the Institute will occupy the new build from April 2012 onwards.
The Institute of Mental Health is a partnership between The University of Nottingham and Nottinghamshire Healthcare NHS Trust. It seeks to help transform our understanding and treatment of mental illness through innovative research and pioneering educational activities.
Also moving into the new building will be the CLAHRC (Collaboration for Leadership in Applied Health Research and Care) for Nottinghamshire, Derbyshire and Lincolnshire, Mental Health Research Network East Midlands Hub plus South Yorkshire, and the NHS East Midlands Leadership Academy.
The ground-breaking ceremony takes place on site on Wednesday 25 May and will be attended by representatives of the Institute, the university and Nottinghamshire Healthcare, partner organisations, and those involved in the new build.
Architects for the building are Benoy, building contractors are G F Tomlinson Building Limited, structural engineers are Waldeck and services engineers are DH Squire.
Prof Nick Manning, Director of the Institute of Mental Health, said: “The Institute was only formed in 2006 and we can now be considered as the UK’s prime location for inter-disciplinary research in the mental health field. This planned move to purpose-built accommodation signifies the huge progress we have made during this time and will have many benefits going forwards based on bringing colleagues together who are currently located on several sites.”
Prof Saul Tendler, University of Nottingham Pro-Vice Chancellor for Teaching and Learning, said: “It’s incredibly exciting to see construction beginning on the Institute of Mental Health’s new home on our Jubilee Campus. During our lifetime, one in four of us will face a mental health problem yet despite their prevalence illnesses of the mind are not as widely or openly discussed in our society as physical disease. The Institute has a vital role to play in transforming our understanding and treatment of mental illness and has found its natural home at the University, which is at the forefront of biomedical translational research, bringing more effective therapies to patients more quickly. The University of Nottingham is extremely proud to be continuing to support the Institute through our partnership with Nottinghamshire Healthcare NHS Trust.”
Prof Mike Cooke, CBE, Chief Executive of Nottinghamshire Healthcare, said: “The Institute is leading mental health research both in this country and in Europe. We are delighted to have helped create this major success story for Nottinghamshire. This new building will bring all staff groups together and allow for future expansion; crucially PhD and post-doctoral staff. The Institute of Mental Health, CLAHRC-NDL, the MHRN and the NHS East Midlands Leadership Academy will all benefit from this co-location.”
Stuart Lawrence, Managing Director of G F Tomlinson, said: “It is rewarding to be entrusted to construct the new home for the Institute of Mental Health and gives us great satisfaction to build a new facility that will help the understanding and treatment of mental illness.”
Chris Stammers, Project Director at architects Benoy, said: “We are delighted to be designing a new home for the Institute of Mental Health and to contribute towards the expansion of The University of Nottingham Jubilee Campus. It is a building design that we are very proud of and look forward to realising in the coming months.”
