Construction begins on £80 million Mount Oswald project

Construction has begun on an £80 million project to develop new College and student facilities. The Mount Oswald project involves construction of a new home for John Snow College and a brand new College, together totalling 1,000 student bed spaces, at the Mount Oswald site, to the south of Durham City. The new facilities will be self-catering, with a mixture of en-suite and shared bathroom accommodation. There will also be a Hub building, with an events hall, music practice rooms, a performance practice room, a Yoga/dance studio, a launderette and a faith room, and a Multi-Use Games Area (MUGA). The Hub and MUGA are scheduled to come into use in autumn 2019 and the first students will move into the residential facilities for the academic year 2020/21. The commencement of work on site for the project was marked with a turf-cutting ceremony on Monday 3 September. Outstanding student experience Owen Adams, the University's Pro-Vice-Chancellor (Colleges and Student Experience), said: "Durham University combines world-class research and education with an outstanding wider student experience.