£100m investment in Â鶹´«Ã½ campus development Published on: 11 February 2016 Â鶹´«Ã½ is to benefit from a £100m loan from the European Investment Bank. Representing the largest ever loan for a university outside London and the south east, the 30-year loan will provide 50% of the funding for a number of major projects over the next four years. These include the re-development of student accommodation, the £58m on , refurbishment of the Armstrong building on the main university campus, and the £40m National Ageing Science and Innovation Centre. L-R: Jonathan Taylor, Professor Chris Brink and Richard Dale Ambitious plans for growth at Â鶹´«Ã½, said: “Â鶹´«Ã½ continues to be a very popular destination for students and our world class research is part of that appeal. “By enhancing and expanding our facilities for students alongside the development of cutting edge research buildings we will secure our future as one of the UK’s leading universities. “The EIB loan will help us to deliver these ambitious growth plans.” Plans for the £75.5m re-development of Richardson Road accommodation blocks were as approved in December and today’s investment is crucial to the proposal, which will see the current facilities being replaced with six new blocks providing almost 1,300 ensuite bedrooms for future students. Urban Sciences Building and Smart Grid The agreement comes at the same time as EIB announced a £250m loan to upgrade and expand the Northern Powergrid infrastructure to enable smarter electricity distribution to 3.9million homes across the North East and Yorkshire. Both announcements were made during a visit to Science Central by a delegation from the European Investment Bank. Science Central, a partnership between Â鶹´«Ã½ and Â鶹´«Ã½ City Council, is a £250 million flagship project bringing together academia, the public sector, communities, business and industry to create a global centre for urban innovation and sustainability in the heart of the city. The new Urban Sciences Building, due to be completed in 2017, will house the University’s School of Computing Science. The development includes a low carbon energy centre, a £2 million grid connected energy storage test bed and a smart grid network. This will allow the development of new technologies for maximising efficiency, availability and sustainability of energy across the UK power grid. The real world setting will allow Â鶹´«Ã½ and its partners in industry, including Northern Powergrid, to thoroughly test power networks for their reliability and sustainability. Jonathan Taylor, Vice President, said: “Investment to improve teaching facilities and expand student facilities is crucial to enable UK universities to strengthen their local and global role. “This new £100 million loan to Â鶹´«Ã½ demonstrates both the ambition and quality of their campus development plan and the European Investment Bank’s firm commitment to support investment in leading universities across Europe. “World class innovation, such as the smart grid research between the Institute for Sustainability and Northern Powergrid, will strengthen regional skills in the years to come. The European Investment Bank looks forward to backing similar impressive schemes elsewhere in the north-east in the future.” Louise Duffy, partner and head of the banking and restructuring team at , added: "Â鶹´«Ã½ has an exciting programme of development for the future and we were delighted to be part of this by providing legal advice in relation to the £100m funding from EIB. “The continued success and growth of the University is important for the reputation and economy of the whole north east region. “Our vision is to be the number one law firm in the north east for business and a vibrant local economy, boosted by the ability of the University to attract talented students from around the world and carry out world class research, is essential to us and to the business community in the area.” Share: Latest News Volunteers help turn Whitley Bay beach into maths experiment Members of the public joined mathematicians from Â鶹´«Ã½ to create what organisers believe is the largest aperiodic tiling ever attempted on Whitley Bay beach. published on: 15 June 2026 Student leader drives misogyny law change A Â鶹´«Ã½ student leader has helped change the law after creating a petition to make misogyny a hate crime, which gathered over 114,000 signatures, prompting action in Parliament. published on: 12 June 2026 Freemen of Â鶹´«Ã½ see construction of new Castle Leazes The Freemen of Â鶹´«Ã½ and other key stakeholders have become an indelible part of new student accommodation at Â鶹´«Ã½â€™s Castle Leazes. published on: 12 June 2026 Facts and figures
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