World class centre opens for tomorrow’s business leaders
30 September 2014
A £14.5m world class centre for teaching and training tomorrow's global business leaders has opened (29 September 2014) at Cardiff Business School.
The state-of-the-art learning and teaching hub provides high-tech lecture theatres, executive study zones and a high-tech 'trading room' to attract the very best business students from around the world.
Cardiff Business School – ranked 4th in the UK - is already a global community, with 35 nationalities amongst its faculty members, 80 amongst its students and 120 countries represented in its alumni community.
Today's ribbon cutting ceremony will further cement the School's reputation as a world leader in business education.
Professor Colin Riordan, Vice Chancellor of Cardiff University, said: "The new Centre embodies our international ambitions. Not only will it help us attract tomorrow's best students, but it will also help us deliver Executive Education programmes for today's business leaders, building long term partnerships that bring significant mutual benefits to the Business School and the University."
The Centre will also help drive the local Cardiff economy. Independent studies show Cardiff Business School contributes over £76 million to the Welsh economy every year.
Professor Martin Kitchener, Dean of Cardiff Business School, said: "The Centre symbolises our determination to deliver public value through economic and social improvement. By working in innovative ways, and adopting multidisciplinary approaches, Cardiff Business School is addressing the grand challenges facing business through research, teaching and civic engagement."
Built with sustainability at its heart, the hub features two major lecture theatres, which will host nearly 400 students, a 60-seater 'trading room' which will allow students to practise real-time trades in global stocks, an executive education facility, plus 12 teaching and seminar rooms, together with a range of informal learning and teaching spaces.
The building, realised by ISG, also boasts a range of 'green' architectural design features including a twin skin façade which acts as an acoustic screen and allows natural ventilation, photovoltaic panels which provide 10% of the energy, and green roof areas to aid biodiversity.
Alan McCarthy-Wyper, Managing Director of ISG's Construction business, said: "The new Centre is a world-class academic facility that combines exceptional design with impressive environmental credentials. We are extremely proud to have partnered Cardiff Business School in the delivery of new learning environments, which will prove transformational for generations of global students to come."