Students frustrated at Knights Park extension closure

Students were left frustrated after the Knights Park extension was closed due to a leak that resulted in classes being cancelled for two days.

The new extension was closed for four days over January 10 -14, while the power was switched off.

Oliver Tibbenham, a third-year architecture student, said: “We were supposed to have something called cross-crits, where years two and three on the course all have to pin up their work and present it to tutors.

“This has been postponed for two weeks. It also meant we couldn’t use any of the new studios to do work.”

While the extension was closed, the other areas of the campus like the library and café remained open.

The situation was dealt with promptly and appropriately with many students using the other areas of the Knights Park campus to study.

Despite the closure, many students are happy about the new extension and all of the facilities available to students.

Frida Skolgie, a creative & cultural industry and design marketing student, said: “I think it looks very good and offers some really good facilities. It has given us the opportunity to get a bigger studio in the old building, as other courses were moved to the new building.”

Tibbenham said: “I’m enjoying having a purpose-built area for the course. It’s more spacious and allows for a more collaborative culture within the faculty.”

There have been a few issues with the new extension, however.

Skolgie said: “There was a lot of construction noise as our studio is based right next to the new building. The noises were so loud we couldn’t hear the tutor in our lectures.”

However, with most of the construction work finished, this is not really an issue anymore.

A Kingston University spokesperson said: “The leak caused some damage to the building, so the power had to be switched off and health and safety checks carried out to ensure the building was safe before being reopened at 8.30am on Tuesday January 14.”

University staff made every effort to ensure power was restored as soon as possible and students and staff were kept informed of progress via email and on the intranets.

KU said: “We apologies for the inconvenience and thank you for your patience.”