Major University projects need colleagues from a range of departments and services to work together and provide their expertise to help the projects succeed. 

Over the past year, people from teams across the University have been invaluable in helping to drive the development of Boldon House at Pity Me. 

Providing information and insights into how their teams work, colleagues are collaborating with the project group to translate their ideas into plans for the new building which will provide modern workspaces for staff in Professional Services teams. 

It’s all about listening to people, understanding and interpreting their ideas to create something that’ll meet their needs for years to come,” said Deputy Provost Richard Crisp, the project’s engagement lead. 

Involving colleagues

Over the past year, Richard has been working with a wide range of colleagues to ensure that people who’ll be based at Boldon House are involved in the development process. 

Richard continued: “We’ve been working hard to give people the chance to either get involved in the development or simply keep updated with its progress. 

“Around 80 colleagues from Professional Services have been involved in more than 50 group sessions to help the development of Boldon House. We’ve also been in regular contact with PS senior managers to get their input and keep them updated at critical points in the project.”  

Over the past few months, architects have been developing outline designs for Boldon House and presented them to colleagues involved in project working groups. 

Richard continued:

Having the initial outline designs for the building is a major step in the process, although there’s still a lot of work to do. We’re speaking to colleagues to get their thoughts about the designs and floorplans. We need to make sure the building works well for everyone and we’ll have more details about the designs soon. 

“A project like this needs input from as many colleagues as possible so we’ll be continuing our engagement activities until people move into the building.” 

As part of the continuing engagement, the first of a series of drop-in sessions is being held in December for colleagues to find out more and ask questions of the project team. Colleagues will also be given the chance to visit the building to see more of the facilities that Boldon House offers in the New Year.  

Look out for more details in upcoming Dialogue publications or on the Boldon House intranet site.