A Midlands university has said a “formal process” is underway to agree a solution with a contractor over an award-winning building that has been closed for over a year due to defects.
Nottingham Trent University’s Lyth Building was shut in April last year to allow an investigation to take place.
The timber-framed building had been open for less than three and a half years.
In an update, a university spokesperson said the building would remain closed for the “foreseeable future”, as “significant defects that have impacted on the structural integrity of the building” had been found.
“The design and build contractor has been notified, and there is a formal process under way to seek a remedy to the problem,” the spokesperson added.
“Due to the complexity of the issues, there is not an easy or quick answer.”
The spokesperson said the building would remain closed because “whilst the risk of collapse is low, we do not want to take any risks”.
The Lyth Building, which reportedly cost £11.5m, was named the Royal Institute of British Architects’ East Midlands Building of the Year in 2022. At the time, judges said it had “raised the bar for future development”.
The building, which has a floorspace of around 2,155 square metres, includes a 200-seat lecture theatre, teaching rooms and a dining hall.
The main contractor on the scheme, which is at the university’s Southwell campus, was Nottingham-based Clegg Construction.
In an emailed statement, Clegg managing director Michael Sims said: “The university is a very valued client and we are working closely with them and our designers to agree a solution that is satisfactory to all parties.”
In its last filed accounts, covering the year to the end of December 2023, Clegg Holdings saw its profit more than halve to £520,200 off a slightly reduced turnover of £159.3m. The firm was a new entrant in the CN100 last year.
Clegg Holdings has two divisions: Clegg Construction and Clegg Food Projects, which specialises in building facilities for food manufacturers.
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James Wilmore