Student work, campus life and university events will get even bigger audiences at De Montfort University Leicester (DMU) thanks to the installation of a giant outdoor TV screen.
The huge 34-square-metre display has been fitted to the side of the new Vijay Patel Building, home to DMU’s art and design courses.
It overlooks the landscaped grassy area being finalised along Mill Lane, so that students and staff can sit and enjoy presentations and screenings throughout the year.
The display will be used to screen coverage of events taking place across the university, as well as showcasing student work and offering visitors to Open Days a wider view than ever of the range of activity at DMU.
Umesh Desai, Estates and Commercial Services Director at DMU, said the big screen was a key part of the campus redevelopment plans drawn up back in 2012.
He said: “It was one of the ideas which really grabbed us from the architects. We knew we’d have this large landscaped area with high quality lawns for people to enjoy and we saw the screen could be used to really add to the sense of university community, to show events taking place and work students were doing.”
The installation of the screen is one of the final pieces of work on the transformation of DMU’s campus, a £136 million revamp which has seen the creation of the Vijay Patel Building, the refurbishment of the Campus Centre and the creation of pedestrianised through roads and landscaped gardens across the site.
Work is still ongoing around campus – with Mill Lane car park closed from Monday, December 19 to Friday, January 6 for resurfacing work - but Umesh said that the vast majority will be complete by the end of the year.
He said: “It’ll be a case of New Year, new campus. In January we will have one of the most impressive campuses in the country and it’s exciting to see it all come together after so much planning and work.
“Right now trees are going in, lawns are going down and plants are being bedded. Campus Centre is on track to be complete in December, with De Montfort Students’ Union moving back there in January.”
Alongside this work, DMU is also restoring the Great Hall of Leicester Castle, creating a base for the Leicester Castle Business School. This work is due to be complete in time for the New Year, with teaching starting January 2017 in the building.
Posted on Tuesday 29 November 2016