UK university to open new leather centre

Work has begun on the University of Northampton’s multimillion-pound leather centre of excellence, based in the English midlands town well known as a major centre of the British leather and shoemaking industries. The Institute for Creative Leather Technologies (ICLT) is to be housed in the International Leather Centre – the university’s latest addition to its £330 million ($424.9 million) Waterside Campus.

According to the ICLT, the new facility, which is scheduled to open in April 2019 at a cost of £5.5m ($7.1 million), will allow the institute to bolster its worldwide reputation for delivering technical excellence in education, training and research.

ICLT director Rachel Garwood, said: “The relocation of ICLT to the University’s new Waterside Campus will be fantastic for both staff and students, providing them with cutting-edge facilities. These new facilities will enhance our teaching, training and research, all of which are crucial in supporting the global leather industry. Our reputation for being a leading global leather institute will continue to grow, which is something Northampton should be proud of.”

The 27,000 sq ft two-storey building, for which the university has signed a 25-year lease, includes a leather innovation laboratory (tannery), testing and research laboratories, teaching space and rooms for commercial organisations to rent, with the tenants having access to the wider facilities. The new centre will replace the ICLT building at Park Campus, which is closing as part of a programme to relocate to the more central Waterside Campus.

The illustration above shows an artist’s impression of the International Leather Centre which is to open in April 2019.

Publishing Data

This article was originally published on page 3 of the October 2018 issue of SATRA Bulletin.

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