The Dutch firm from Delft has already made a significant impact in the UK when they unveiled Europe’s largest library in Birmingham. In what will be its third development in the city, the University of Manchester has announced plans for a new 839,000 square foot engineering campus designed by Mecanoo.

In the words of Mecanoo, the campus “will transform the way in which the University educates future engineers in response to the needs of the fast-changing global economy.” Set to open in 2020, the development is part of the University’s scheme “to create a world-leading teaching, learning and research campus to develop the engineers and innovators of tomorrow.”

The site will be the University’s fourth School for Engineering under the Faculty of Engineering and Physical Sciences. In addition to this it will also become a base for 1,300 academics, researchers and support staff as well as 6,750 students.

Instead of designing a group of buildings for the school, Mecanoo went with a single holistic building that employs an expressed structural steel frame.

Professor Martin Schröder, Vice-President and Dean of the Faculty of Engineering and Physical Sciences at the University, said: “This outstanding new campus development will build upon our proud heritage of innovation and discovery across engineering and science that began with the establishment of the Manchester Mechanics’ Institute in 1824. MECD will inspire engineers to continue our pioneering spirit and to apply their knowledge and help modern industry overcome global challenges, such as climate change, finite natural resources and changing world markets.”

Mecanoo is also designing the Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial Library in Washington D.C., the Delft Municipal Offices and Train Station, and La Llotja Theatre and Conference Centre in Lleida, Spain. The firm also completed its first project in Boston earlier this year.