Peterborough technical college plans expansion with new teaching block- including rooftop playground

Greater Peterborough University Technical College has submitted plans to expand its site with a new three-storey teaching teaching block.

The proposed block would be located behind the current University Centre building and would not be visible from the Park Crescent entrance or from the front of the Peterborough Regional College campus on the same site off Park Crescent.

The is set to include a workshop, workshop store and ICT/Math Lab on the ground floor, a large classroom and sixth form breakout zone on the first floor and the rooftop play ground, along with an equipment store and plant room on the second floor.

The college has said that the new block will provide much-needed teaching space and will allow for internal remodelling in the main building to provide more specialist teaching space.

The application states that the school in undersized for the current number of students on its roll and is need of further teaching and teaching support space.

Due to the small nature of the school site, UTC has said that there are very limited areas where the school can provide new fit for purpose accommodation, meaning that the existing building needs to be remodelled in combination with a new extension in order to provide the accommodation that is needed.

Greater Peterborough UTC- part of the Meridian Trust- opened in 2016 and is open to 11-19 years old to offer specialist programmes, with backing from the local business community, alongside a core curriculum.

Lee Mawby, Principal at Greater Peterborough University Technical College (GPUTC), said: “At GPUTC, our mission is to deliver a STEM-rich curriculum which equips our students with the knowledge, skills, values and experiences they need to become our future engineers, architects, scientists and designers.

"The development of this new teaching block will allow us to provide even greater opportunities and industry-leading facilities and equipment for our students, all of which are essential to bringing this vision to life.”

The application can be viewed on Peterborough City Council’s planning portal, search using reference 24/00046/FUL.