A £4.5 MILLION refurbishment of Buckinghamshire New University is almost complete as the campus gets ready for the new academic year.

The South Wing of the site in Queen Alexandra Road, High Wycombe, originally built in the 1960s, has been re-modelled to offer a state-of-the-art learning and teaching space.

The redesign has been carried out partly in response to student feedback, with widened corridors decked out with seating and power/data points to create areas that can be used as work or social spaces.

Students have even been able to choose the colours of feature walls in the areas they will use the most, such as teaching rooms.

An advanced clinical skills laboratory with an eight-bay hospital ward has been built, kitted out with the latest in interactive medical and teaching aids, including various simulation manikins. The refurb has also allowed for the future development of a "simulation suite" that has an operating theatre and recovery room, matching the one already at the university's Uxbridge campus.

There are five new teaching rooms, more working space for staff.

The redesign has also cut BNU's carbon footprint, with environmentally friendly measures including insulated materials and a solar panel array that will generate 50,000 kW of electricity per annum.

Deputy Vice Chancellor Professor Derek Godfrey said: "We are really excited at the prospect of unveiling our newly refurbished state of the art South Wing facility at the beginning of the new academic year.

"Not only will students and staff be delighted by the external and interior re-development, but budgets have been carefully managed over the course of the eight-month building project to ensure there was enough money left to fund even more development.

"The second stage, due for completion at the end of December, will see the ground-floor transformed into a flexible multifunctional area which will be used to showcase events for students’ work as well as host open days for prospective Bucks students.

"This area will also have direct access from the Gateway concourse which will provide additional connectivity for our University community."