This photo, taken on Dreadnought's opening day seems a long time ago now, but it was only 17 September - but a lot has taken place in the building since then, and students and staff on Greenwich campus have embraced our newest space.
You only have to visit Dreadnought to see how much a space like this was needed on Greenwich campus. Since it's opened it's become the home to:
- the Greenwich Students' Union, the new Lower Deck venue and Change coffee,
- the Galley cafe and the Sports Deck gym,
- the Student Centre on Greenwich campus and Student and Academic Services,
- the Departments of Education & Community Studies and Psychology, Social Work & Counselling,
- Open Access IT labs, social learning spaces and the Directorate of Information & Library Services.
And a lot has taken place in Dreadnought
Among the many events and cake sales, our Feminism Society and LGBT+ Society hosted a great Sexual Health Awareness week in November, and Dreadnought played its part in a successful WelcomeFest too, with:
- 6 students going head to head in a DJ battle in the WelcomeFest tent to battle for a place to play at the opening of the Lower Deck,
- over 1000 cups of coffee sold in the first few weeks of the new Change coffee shop,
- hosting our first Volunteering and Part Time Jobs Fair which saw hundreds of students finding out more about the opportunities available,
- the Chinese Students Association hosting their first meet and greet, with over 65 students attending and
- over 175 room booking requests for the new Student Group Rooms available in Dreadnought.
There's been exhibitions celebrating our Postgraduate students and to mark World Mental Health Day and Black History Month, as well as key Students' Union events such as the Big Choice.
Thank you @UniofGreenwich for highlighting my work at the PGR appreciation! Couldn't have done it without the support from my colleagues @SoPsyGRE and my supervisor #DrSofiaStathi #PhDLife #IntergroupRelations #Prejudice #islamophobia #humanization pic.twitter.com/QxOcPJf0Ts
— Melissa Pavetich (@MelissaPavetich) September 25, 2018
Big thank you to @UniofGreenwich @greenwichsu for putting up my PhD work for the postgraduate celebration event! #PhD #superrecognition #voicerecognition #facerecognition pic.twitter.com/C3tH5ncoHM
— Ryan Jenkins (@Ryan_e_Jenkins) September 26, 2018
It's clear that the spaces throughout the building have been designed to be adaptable, flexible and to work for all the occupants, students and staff alike, which surely is the sign of a great building.
An official opening
On 30 November, our refurbished Dreadnought building was formally opened by our Chancellor, The Rt Hon the Baroness Scotland of Asthal, QC and it was fantastic to have so many students at the event.
The amazing newly refurbished Dreadnought Building officially opened last night by our Chancellor, Baroness Patricia Scotland. Here is the happy team that delivered the project. Well done, a wonderful achievement! pic.twitter.com/3k9QGH4CG4
— David Maguire (@djm92373) December 1, 2018
Our own piece of history
You may not yet have found time to locate the Dreadnought memorial chair, which was donated to the university by a current member of staff's family. The chair is located in the FM Office on the ground floor, and is made of wood from the Dreadnought ship which was broken up at Chatham Dockyard in 1875.
The ship was built in 1801 and served at the Battle of Trafalgar. It became the hospital ship for the Seamen's Hospital Society at Greenwich in 1831, and the converted battleship served as a hospital ship until 1872 when then last patients were moved to the Old Royal Navy infirmary renamed The Dreadnought.
The chair is now located in the building which bears its name, and if you think it sounds familiar, that might be because it featured in our Greenwich Portrait with Ian Livingstone, the creator of Lara Croft: Tomb Raider, the legendary role-playing game Dungeons & Dragons, co-author of the Fighting Fantasy series of books and former student at Garnett College, one of the university's predecessors.
