St Andrews University has revealed the next stage of its multi-million pound Eden Campus project.
The Guardbridge innovation centre aims to bring academia and industry together to help shape a sustainable future.
And more than £100m has already been spent on transforming the former Curtis Fine Papers site.
It houses a biomass plant, battery testing and development centre, gym and modern offices.
The project is now looking to create new science labs to enable research into emission control and energy storage.
And it has submitted a planning application to redevelop a listed building on the site to allow this to happen.
The former stores are said to be part of a “necklace of distinctive buildings”.
Retaining building’s character
The university says the building is currently in a poor state of repair.
However, it said as much of its original character as possible would be retained.
“The features of the buildings reflect their industrial history,” they said.
“It’s important these are retained wherever possible to ensure the new proposal retains a dialogue with the history of the site.”
Eden Campus in Guardbridge provides heat and hot water to student rooms
The Eden Campus site was originally a distillery.
However, the late 19th century saw it converted into a paper mill, which eventually closed in 2008 with the loss of 180 jobs.
The biomass plant was the university’s first project there in 2016.
It provides heat and hot water to 43 buildings in St Andrews and over 2,500 student rooms.
It is also a key element to St Andrews University plans to become carbon neutral by 2035.
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