Delivered by the SPACE Move & Change Management team, the relocation saw academic and research staff from around 15 campus and city locations move into one new building: The Mazumdar-Shaw Advanced Research Centre. In addition to research groups, the project involved moving complex and valuable lab equipment including mass spectrometers, microscopes, optical tables, x-ray machines and 3D printers.

Mo Gillespie, head of SPACE Move & Change Management, said: “This project was of huge significance given the high profile of the new ARC facility, and of the valuable and specialist nature of the work undertaken there. Our team did an impressive job of understanding the essential services, non-negotiable down-time and time-critical research which these groups undertake.

“With a highly complex move planning and preparation period spanning across more than 2.5 years - including during full lockdown - and daily on-site move supervision over a five-month period, this is a project of which we are immensely proud.”

SPACE’s remit for the project was considerable and included: detailed surveys, fact-finding and discovery sessions with stakeholder and key operational staff; relocation strategy and migration schedule for user groups and their lab equipment; move preparation guidance for staff, including multi-user workshops, move instructions and briefings; scheduling over 30 specialist vendors; cost benefit studies for lab equipment and compilation of a lab user operating model.

Sharon De Sykes, senior project manager at Glasgow University, said: “The team at SPACE went above and beyond to deliver this complex project. We cannot fault their tireless detailed and expert work in moving a considerable number of people and their specialist equipment into our new ARC. Their attention to detail and understanding of our research ensured downtime was kept to a minimum and that our essential work could resume as quickly as possible.”

The Mazumdar-Shaw Advanced Research Centre is the University of Glasgow’s new home for research excellence. Built to house the University’s research community, the flagship building will serve as a place where collaboration and cross-disciplinary research can thrive.