Willmott Dixon will now work with the university to complete detailed designs for the building in time for construction to start this summer.
The Multi-Faith Centre will replace existing Muslim prayer rooms and multi-faith spaces in the university’s Old Library with a 50-person Muslim prayer space and a multi-faith space. It will also house communal meeting space, a kitchen and an office for the university multifaith chaplaincy team.
The new building is being designed to Passivhaus standard, with porotherm blocks, air source heat pumps and solar photovoltaic PV panels on the roof.
Willmott Dixon has been working with a project team that includes Faithful & Gould, Group Emmett Design, SE3Design, Sands, SDS and Arup.
Willmott Dixon director Rob Woolcock said: “This project aligns with our commitment to push the boundaries of sustainable design construction and operation of building.”
The contractor has worked for the University of Exeter before on several projects. It has also several Passivhaus projects under its belt, including the Centre for Medicine at the University of Leicester and the Harris Academy in Sutton.
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