The £40 million research hub facility will be developed on the University’s 31-hectare Gilmorehill Campus in the West End.

Architecture firm HOK is the lead design consultant on the project with WSP | Parsons Brinckerhoff, the engineering professional services consultancy behind the Queen Elizabeth University Hospital Glasgow, having secured the appointment in a competitive tender against other local and international architect teams.

The 14,000 sq metre research hub will be the second part of what the University has described as an “inspirational and world-leading masterplan” for the West End campus. It will bring together staff and students from a wide range of disciplines to carry out world-changing research.

The project is expected to be complete in 2019.

The multidiscipline engineering contract is being led by WSP | Parsons Brinckerhoff’s John Cox – building structures lead in Scotland, and Graeme Bruce who heads up the building services business in Scotland. Ironside Farrar is the planning consultant.

John Cox said: “Partnering with HOK allowed us to bring the most recent innovative expertise in world class research facilities to the project. This is a significant win for us as it strengthens our ongoing relationship with the University of Glasgow as well as raising our engineering skills profile in the education sector across Scotland and the UK as a whole.”

Adrian Gainer, regional leader for Science + Technology at HOK, said: “We are thrilled to have an opportunity to work with the University of Glasgow and our partners on the design of this significant and visionary project.

“We have extensive experience in delivering highly successful research environments worldwide. We look forward to creating a design that will encourage interdisciplinary collaboration and inspire the university’s research teams to pursue world-changing activities.”

The University of Glasgow relocated to Gilmorehill in 1870 from its original base close to the cathedral on the city’s historic high street. Iconic campus structures include the towering George Gilbert Scott-designed main building and William Whitfield’s 1968 university library.