Dyson Institute of Engineering and Technology

Malmesbury, UK

WilkinsonEyre has been collaborating with Dyson on their Malmesbury campus for over 20 years, having originally designed the new Headquarters for Dyson there in 1992.

The Dyson Institute for Engineering and Technology is a new model for apprentice-based learning that integrates a higher education campus with commercial industry, research and development. With the ambition to become the best engineering university in the world, its mission is to develop the engineering leaders of the future.  

Undergraduate Engineers work alongside the Global Engineering team from day one and take responsibility for live projects, all while studying for their engineering degree. Rewarded with a competitive salary and with no fees to pay, they can graduate debt-free.

WilkinsonEyre has designed a new ‘undergraduate village’ of 67 accommodation pods – each for an individual student and a clubhouse (the Roundhouse) comprising a café, bar, lecture hall and study space. The village also includes shared amenities including kitchens, communal spaces, laundry rooms, a reception and amenity space, all located at the heart of the campus.

Dyson’s brief was to create accommodation that would draw together fresh ideas visually, structurally and in the use of materials. The design team explored a range of materials and modular construction options, eventually settling on a structure from cross-laminated timber (CLT) panels. These are exposed internally, even in kitchens and bathrooms, and clad externally with anodised aluminium rain-screen panels and topped with a sedum roof.

The offsite construction process included the installation of fitted furniture and storage, before transportation of the pods from Scotland to Wiltshire.Great care was exercised to ensure students feel a part of the wider Dyson community and are immersed in a positive and productive living environment. The pods are stacked and angled to provide every student with a view from the large tripled glazed windows, whilst each pod has its own front door for privacy.

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