PLANS for a £50m Health and Life Sciences building at the University of Reading have been published.

The proposals aim to combine the university's School of Biological Sciences and Health and Life Sciences departments into a brand new facility on the Whiteknights campus from the summer of 2019.

Subject to planning approval, the four-floor building would offer research and teaching facilities, as well as offices for academics and administrative staff and space for the Cole Museum of Zoology.

Professor Steve Mithen, deputy vice-chancellor, said: “The Health and Life Sciences building will provide a world-class suite of teaching and research facilities, enabling us to continue our tradition of outstanding teaching in biological sciences and pioneering research that addresses the global challenges in biomedical science.

“It is just one of several multi-million pound investments within our current building programme designed to sustain, and further enhance, Reading’s status as a world leading teaching and research intensive university".

The project is just one part of the University’s £400m investment programme and will see existing buildings demolished early next year.

It is hoped that the new facility will house a state of the art bioresource centre, where medical research can be carried out to help find new treatments for conditions such as epilepsy, heart disease and obesity.

The site of the building is situated between Wokingham and Reading Borough Council, with Wokingham acting as the lead council for the application.