Tithebarn Building is home to the School of Nursing and Allied Health and Avril Robarts Library and the project will see a significant upgrade to the facilities. Tony McDonough reports

Work is to begin in the next few weeks on the £25m transformation of  one of Liverpool John Moores University’s city centre buildings.

LJMU has appointed Willmott Dixon Construction to deliver the project at the Tithebarn Building at the end of Tithebarn Street, home to the School of Nursing and Allied Health (NAH) and Avril Robarts Library.

The Tithebarn Building will be extended with the library undergoing a complete refurbishment to provide specialist practice simulation suites, refurbished teaching rooms and staff accommodation and modern study and social spaces in Avril Robarts Library.

Enabling works on the site are now under way, with the main contract works scheduled to begin in May 2019. The Tithebarn NAH project is scheduled for overall completion in March 2021. However, the new extension will be completed for the start of the new academic year in September 2020.

The Avril Robarts Library refurbishment will be carried out in three phases with overall completion in late 2020. Professor Raphaela Kane, LJMU’s Interim Executive Dean, said: “I’m delighted that we are making real progress in delivering these fantastic new facilities for our students.

“This project will provide an outstanding teaching, learning and research environment with contemporary practice simulation suites and will enhance the preparation of our Nursing and Allied Health students for their future careers.”

The project is part of LJMU’s estates masterplan, which is also delivering a new Student Life Building and Sport Building on Copperas Hill, a new Pavilion at Aldham Robarts Library and a new School of Education building on Maryland Street.

Anthony Dillon, managing director for Willmott Dixon in the north, added, “This further builds on our recent track-record in the north that includes delivering the Schuster annex for University of Manchester.

“We have delivered over £100m of work in Liverpool in recent years and our local team are really looking forward to working with LJMU to deliver this next phase of their exciting growth and, in the process, sustain regional companies and jobs with our ‘local pound’ commitment.”