University of Nottingham labs destroyed in fire

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england...shire-29188682

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Investigations into a blaze that has destroyed a multi-million pound university chemistry building are set to begin.

Up to 60 firefighters were involved in tackling the fire at the University of Nottingham, after they were called about 20:30 BST on Friday.

No-one was injured and no other buildings were affected as crews fought the blaze in Triumph Road, Radford.

Specialist fire teams will work with police to establish the cause.

The timber-framed building was under construction and was due to be completed by next year.

It had been partly funded by a £12m grant from drug company GlaxoSmithKline (GSK),

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Jeez, aren't a few people from here at Nottingham Uni?

Am I right in believing it's never been opened yet, so at least the loss from items inside will be minimal just the actual building itself as it was still in construction?

@Catchy; you go to nottingham uni don't you?

My mate goes here and was telling us about it as it was happening on Facebook.

Apparently it was due to open soon. Also heard that it was an 'Eco building' which makes me laugh. Total stupidity.

"The timber-framed building was under construction and was due to be completed by next year."


So understandable how easy it went up lol

http://news.bbcimg.co.uk/media/image...97e856831f.jpg

http://news.bbcimg.co.uk/media/image...3945626519.jpg

http://news.bbcimg.co.uk/media/image...4258_fire3.jpg

No @scottish; I've lived in London for a year now lol!

oh who goes to nottingham uni you should know

I think @Charlottay!; goes and I believe @Samantha.; and @Smurfed-; live in Nottingham? That's so bad, not too surprising though unfortunately.

@Samantha.; goes to Gloucester (no stalk honest).

Heres a statement from Notts:

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Latest statement on last night's fire on Jubilee Campus:

The University of Nottingham’s Registrar Dr Paul Greatrix said: “We can confirm that a major fire at our Jubilee Campus on the evening of Friday September 12 has completely destroyed our new GlaxoSmithKline Carbon Neutral Laboratory for Sustainable Chemistry which was under construction.

“We are incredibly grateful to our staff and students for their fantastic response in dealing with this major incident and would like to express our gratitude to Notts Fire Service. It was the quick action of their fire crews which prevented this incident from being much more serious. We have also been extremely touched by the messages and best wishes from our close neighbours out in the community.

“We would like to thank the wider higher education community across the UK for its support – we have had many offers of help from other universities around the country, for which we are extremely grateful.
“To put this loss into perspective, we need to remember that this was one building, that thankfully no one was injured and that the fire was prevented from spreading further on to campus.

“We want to stress that it is business as usual at The University of Nottingham. Our Open Day 2014, to which we will be welcoming thousands of prospective students and their families is going ahead as planned and will be unaffected by the incident. Our ability to deliver teaching and research through our Chemistry department is completely unaffected by this incident.

This is a setback for us but one from which we have no doubt we will recover. The University of Nottingham has an international reputation for scientific excellence, underpinned by the world-leading expertise of our academics. It is upon those strong foundations that we will rebuild and renew for the future.

The GlaxoSmithKline Carbon Neutral Laboratory for Sustainable Chemistry is a landmark building which is the embodiment of the University’s commitment to sustainability in all its forms, particularly in the area of green chemistry and we will be working closely with our partners at GSK, and the contractors Morgan Sindall, to develop a positive plan of action for rebuilding.

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Very professional, I'll give em that

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Originally Posted by Samanfa

I think @Charlottay!; goes and I believe @Samantha.; and @Smurfed-; live in Nottingham? That's so bad, not too surprising though unfortunately.

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Yer, I was on the bus at the time. Never seen anything quite like it!

It's such a shame that it happened, and so close to it opening. For a modern 'eco' building, I don't rate the overall design of the building, looks pretty standard and not very spectacular for a building like this which I would have thought would have looked a great deal more modern from the outside.

What amazes me is that they went through with an open day the following morning.

i always got nottingham and trent confused :s
i bet they're very annoyed

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Originally Posted by Yupt

What amazes me is that they went through with an open day the following morning.

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well it's completely different buildings and it was prevented from spreading so, rest of it is perfectly safe and they'll need to go on with day to day business :P

Hmm, these eco-buildings seem a bit scary now :P It's funny this was a lab block. It's like making a swimming pool out of potassium. I hope the business centre at my University doesn't go up as that too is an eco/wooden framed building, but then again business and management students shouldn't be playing with fire. Not that I'm saying there's any connection as this is just a random thought.

Hundreds of years ago now, western architects learned to build with stone and brick to avoid buildings burning down, or at least to preserve the territorial integrity of a building after a blaze as well to protect from a fire spreading to nearby structures. Today in 2014, like so much of the modern world, we've actually gone backwards hundreds of years designing ugly, expensive and fire-hazard worthy buildings in order to go along with the cult of global warming climate change sustainable development so they we can all be 'Green'.

Even more ironic and funnier is the fact this is a university stuffed full with academics who were (I assume) involved in the planning and consent to such a building. I bet they all thought their new building would show them and their university to be oh-so 'forward thinking' and yet it's just proved again that academics are some of the most stupid people on the planet. I'm laughing thinking of their surprise and shock of this blaze. :P

Here's my tip to them: design something made of brick, that looks beautiful and will last forever. In other words, copy the Victorians.