A former University of Strathclyde student union building is to be transformed into a £30 million ‘digital, entrepreneurial and social engagement hub’.
The building on John Street will be named the Charles Huang Advanced Technology & Innovation Centre (CHATIC) in recognition of former alumnus and businessman Dr Charles Huang.
It is part of a larger £50m donation that the founder of private equity firm Pasaca Capital Inc made through his foundation to the university in 2021, its largest-ever philanthropic gift.
Situated in the heart of Glasgow City Innovation District, CHATIC will provide additional facilities for advancing health technologies, 5G communications, industrial AI, fintech, quantum technologies and space research, alongside housing an innovation and entrepreneurship hub and a social innovation hub.
Professor Sir Jim McDonald, principal & vice-Chancellor of Strathclyde University, said: “I am delighted that CHATIC will facilitate new opportunities to: partner and innovate with industry; enhance research capabilities by actively developing our research leaders of the future; grow entrepreneurial and social innovation opportunities open to staff, students and the wider community; and, it will create opportunities for our students to engage with industry research partners.
“We are hugely grateful to Charles for his very generous contribution to this project and are delighted to recognise this through the naming of the new building.”
Some of the space in the building will be used for businesses to ‘co-locate’ alongside innovation support organisations and community engagement facilities that will ‘deliver increased economic and social impact’.
The building has been empty since Strath Union moved to its new home in the University’s Learning & Teaching Building on Richmond Street in 2021, though part of the building incorporates the university’s combined heat & power district heating system.
Scheduled for completion in 2026, the refurbishment of the 10-storey, 5,535 square metre premises, originally built in 1959, will emit around 67% less carbon when compared to a new-build, while retaining the building for the city.
The £50m donation from Dr Huang also enabled the creation of the Stephen Young Institute for International Business, funded two professorial chairs in the Institute and supported the establishment of The Stephen Young Entrepreneurship Awards and The Stephen Young Global Leaders Scholarship Programme.
Lina Tullberg, CEO of the Charles Huang Foundation, said: “We are thrilled to see our donation to the University of Strathclyde come to fruition and meet with Dr Charles Huang’s original objectives. The CHATIC is the last piece of the programmes funded by the donation, with the other elements progressing well.”