A newly appointed creative director has said she will look to follow in the footsteps of Richard Attenborough when she takes on her new role later this year.

Laura McDermott’s appointment as the creative director of the Attenborough Centre for the Creative Arts has been confirmed by the University of Sussex.

The new director, who has been joint artistic director of Birmingham’s Fierce Festival since 2009, has said she will look to “shape the centre” around the values of the university’s former chancellor Lord Attenborough.

Ms McDermott’s new role will see her develop the Attenborough Centre, formerly known as the Gardner Arts Centre, as a leading performing arts resource with a focus on forging new bonds between the university and Brighton and Hove as well as the wider national and international arts communities.

The iconic Sir Basil Spence building is to reopen this autumn after an eight year absence and following an extensive multi-million pound refurbishment As well as a flexible 350-seat auditorium, the centre will have exhibition spaces, rehearsal studios, new teaching and office space and a new bar.

The centre has been renamed after former chancellor Lord Richard Attenborough and his family, including two of his sons who are former university alumni and his daughter Jane Holland and granddaughter Lucy, who were tragically killed in Thailand during the 2005 tsunami.

Ms McDermott, who was interviewed for the post at the end of last month, is currently joint artistic director of Fierce Festival, Birmingham’s international festival of contemporary performance.

She began her career as a producer at Battersea Arts Centre in 2005 and achieved critical acclaim in 2007 as lead producer for the Punchdrunk and BAC co-production of The Masque of the Red Death.

She said: “I look forward to shaping the centre around the values that were important to Richard Attenborough in his life and work: human rights, social justice and creative education.”