Babbage Building
The Babbage Building is a teaching building at the University of Plymouth.

Background 
The Babbage Building is the main building for the university's School of Engineering, Computing and Mathematics and the School of Art, Design and Architecture.

It is named after Charles Babbage, a mathematician, philosopher, inventor and mechanical engineer who originated the concept of a digital programmable computer.

After renovations in 2021–2023, the building contains a number of fabrication and computing laboratories.

History 

The building was originally constructed in the 1979 as an engineering block for the university.

2021 - 2023 Renovation 
In 2019, a design competition was held for a renovation of the Babbage Building.

Permission was granted for the renovations in December 2020, and works began in 2021. The main contractor for the renovations is BAM, and the new building was designed by Feilden Clegg Bradley Studios.

In 2021, as part of the university's campus masterplan, the Babbage Building was closed for £30 million worth of renovation works. For the renovations to be able to take place, the university had to temporarily relocate classes and infrastructure to other places across the campus. The university's data center was mostly moved to the cloud as a result of the works.

The building was completely emptied, internal walls taken down, and the outer walls taken off, with only the concrete structure remaining. The renovated building has larger windows, blue cladding, and a rooftop garden. Babbage is also set to be expanded towards the rear and right side of the building.

As part of the works, the nearby Brunel building will be demolished and turned into a park when all of its functions have been moved into the babbage building.

The newly renovated building will contain 108,000 sq ft (10,000 sq m) of teaching and learning space, and will be focused on using low carbon technologies to reduce the university's carbon footprint.

The building is due to reopen in September 2023.

References 

Buildings and structures in Plymouth, Devon
Buildings at the University of Plymouth