The new Enterprise Hub building on the University of Hertfordshire’s de Havilland campus, which has been part-funded by the Hertfordshire Local Enterprise Partnership, is a unique and forward-thinking initiative. The vision for this building was to provide a social and support hub for students, alumni, academicians as well as businesses in the region. A true ‘collaboration hub’, which facilitates cross fertilization of ideas and sharing of knowledge between academia and industry and provides a social heart for the student community.
The Enterprise Hub provides a designated modern and fully equipped co-working space, particularly useful for early stage businesses and entrepreneurs, to use flexibly. It includes collaborative informal learning/work zones, start-up business incubator open plan areas and offices together with teaching and exam spaces and a social café & dining spaces.
The project was developed through a truly collaborative process between the University’s Estates team, Academicians, the Business School, the design team and the main contractor.
Three winning facts about this submission:
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- A HE building that achieves a balance between workspace and education, encouraging open learning and professional development through collaboration, and supports entrepreneurship by sustaining the transition from academic education to professional practice.
- An exemplar of Client/Design Team/Contractor collaboration process where respect and acknowledgement of individual aspirations and priorities led to a fusion of marketing and branding ideas, architectural principles and technical knowledge.
- A development that brings added value to an evolving University and extends beyond the boundaries of the campus, reaching out to a variety of community stakeholders.
- It is a people-focused hub space with soft, welcoming user-friendly interiors, that caters for the well-being of its users and offers flexible spaces for people to share experiences and to socialise.
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