East Durham College Staff, Students and Animals Settle Into their New Surroundings

Staff, students, animals and livestock have now all settled in after the completion of the redevelopment of East Durham College’s Houghall Campus.

The college celebrated the first 50 days has now passed since the completion of the work on the £12.75 million redevelopment of the site by construction firm Wilmott Dixon; which saw new and returning students reaping the benefits of the new-look site.

As well as an extensive and challenging refurbishment of the main entrance front building, which was built in 1937/8, the completion of the project saw a number of stunning new facilities open this September; including a brand-new small animal care centre, agricultural centre, equine centre, brand new science labs and IT suites.

The purpose-built Small Animal Care Centre houses a range of small mammals, birds, reptiles and aquatics – as well as a new commercial dog grooming salon and 22-bay dog kennel unit, complete with dog agility and dog walking areas.

The stunning new Houghall Equine Centre boasts a 28-stable block accommodation, training workshops, tack room, automatic horse-walker and an international-standard 40m x 40m indoor arena to complement an existing 60m x 40m all-weather menage, cross-country trail, schooling field and 20-acre paddock.

The new Agricultural Centre includes a pig unit and cattle unit with forage store to supplement the existing sheep unit down at the farm site.

Suzanne Duncan, Principal at East Durham College, said: “This is an incredibly exciting time in the history of the Houghall campus.

“Completion of our first major development work on the campus since it opened in 1938 is a huge boost to the facilities we can now offer students.

“These will significantly improve the learning and teaching at Houghall and provide a learning environment fit for the 21^st century and beyond

“This is a real milestone for land-based education in the north east.”

For more information on courses available at East Durham College’s Houghall campus, please visit www.eastdurham.ac.uk or contact our student services team on 0191 375 4710.