The new halls will house 1,259 en-suite rooms
The University is planning to invest a further £65 million in new student accommodation as part of its commitment to providing a world-class student experience.
The investment is part of an overall £600 million campus investment announced last year.
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Plans have been submitted to the city council to develop the new student residences at the heart of the University’s campus on Brownlow Hill and Crown Street. The residences will comprise 1,259 en-suite rooms as well as retail outlets and will be at the cutting edge of sustainable design. Public consultation events were held by the University in November last year and the Council’s planning committee is set to make a decision in July.
Joe Anderson, newly elected Mayor of Liverpool, said: “This development will increase the appeal of the University of Liverpool to potential students right across the country and the world, contributing to Liverpool’s growing status as a distinctive global city. It will also provide a much needed boost to the city in terms of jobs and training opportunities for local people.”
The residences will be at the heart of the University’s city centre campus
The development forms part of an overall £250 million investment for new accommodation. The first phase of the institution’s investment in residences is nearly complete with newresidences on Myrtle Street due to open in September. The £44 million project has seen the development of 710 en-suite rooms as well as a restaurant and retail outlets.
The University is keen to ensure that the student experience offered at Liverpool is first-rate and market research indicates that in order to continue to attract the best students, the University needs to offer more accommodation at its city centre campus – particularly self-catered and en-suite rooms.
Steve Dickson: “This is the sort of accommodation students want from a world-leading university.”
Steve Dickson, Director of Facilities Management at the University, said: “It’s important that we make this investment to meet demand in the future. The student population is extremely important to the city – students contribute around £300 million to Liverpool’s economy every year.
“The University remains heavily over-subscribed but it’s important that all aspects of our student experience, including our accommodation, remain world-class. We’re redeveloping our existing accommodation and investing in new developments in order to offer the sort of accommodation students want from a world-leading university.”
At the cutting edge of sustainable design
The University is also investing in its off-campus accommodation, developing new residences at its Greenbank site at Mossley Hill to provide a self-contained student village including catering and sports facilities. The University’s historic 18th Century Greenbank House which was left to the University by the Rathbone family, will also benefit from a £5 million investment.
The new residences on Crown Street and Brownlow Hill will be built on the site of the existing Veterinary Science building. The University is investing £10 million in developing new facilities for the School which will benefit from modern and flexible teaching and research space. The Veterinary School will be principally located in the University’s Thompson Yates building. A new Veterinary Science teaching suite in Great Newton Street will provide practical teaching space for up to 150 students on the first floor, as well as a new clinical skills area.
The development forms part of a £250m investment in new accommodation
A first-opinion practice is being built close to the site of the existing practice on Crown Street while a new pathology suite is being developed at the University’s Leahurst campus on Wirral. The largest research group in the current Crown Street Building, working on veterinary infectious diseases, will move into bespoke laboratories within the Liverpool Science Park in July.
The University is currently negotiating with a preferred bidder for the new residences and is hopeful a formal contractual agreement will be reached in the near future.