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Recent developments

Sports Centre

The new £30m Sports Centre opened to staff, students and the public in September 2015. Facilities include running tracks, rugby, hockey and football pitches, athletics field, netball and tennis courts and a trim trail with exercise stations. A single storey building accommodates an eight-court sports hall with viewing gallery for basketball, netball, badminton, five-a-side football and general sports use, a 25-metre swimming pool, a 100-station fitness suite, aerobics studio, health suite with sauna and steam rooms, a café and lounge area.

New ecological features and wildlife habitats have been created, linking mixed-woodland areas and footpaths to Ruff Wood. Wildflower meadows, open grassland and a new wildlife pond have been cultivated, alongside structural screen planting and hedgerow replacement.

Creative Edge

Creative Edge is a state-of-the-art building providing high-spec suites of industry-standard facilities for media, film, animation, advertising, public relations and computing students.

Features include tv studios with broadcast capacity and full production capabilities, recording studios, sound-editing suites, a radio studio, animation studios, photographic studio, multimedia laboratory and networking, forensic and computer labs. The new facilities provide space for teaching, research and collaboration with industry partners. Units are also available to students and graduates in the early stages of starting their own businesses.

Creative Edge rooftop garden

Biosciences

The Biology Department has been extended with a whole floor of brand new lab space, supporting further work in human biology, together with enhanced facilities for computing and research.

These new additions complement the original purpose-built building which already contains a range of excellent ICT facilities, laboratories, prep rooms and a lecture theatre.

Someone using lab equipment with a white lab coat on

The Arts Centre

The newly-developed Arts Centre houses the University’s Performing Arts Department and the Rose and Studio Theatres. Hosting a diverse range of high quality professional productions, including comedy, dance, drama, literature, music and family-friendly shows, designed to entertain students as well as the local and regional community, the extensive refurbishment of this space has led to many improvements to the all-round theatre experience.

The £2m developments include an open-plan foyer and spacious bistro, additional seating and a striking new façade with a wall of glass doors opening up onto a picturesque outdoor amphitheatre and gardens for staging outdoor productions. In addition to the theatre auditoriums, The Arts Centre offers state-of-the-art facilities, such as dance and drama studios, theatre design and costume workshops, and a fully-equipped digital sound studio and design suite.

The Arts Centre Entrance from outside at night time

The Hub

Housing retail and dining areas in one place for the first time, the new building marks the central point between the modern Western Campus and the iconic Main Building built in the 1930s. There is also brand new accommodation for the Students’ Union, with dedicated office space for the management and support teams, and societies and student groups. Additional classroom space, open access Macs, PCs and other IT resources, a giant tv screen, and various social areas for staff and students to meet make it vibrant, lively and modern.

The Hub

Chancellor’s, Founder’s and Palatine Court

Palatine Court is the latest addition to the University’s accommodation and comprises of four halls of residence with all 144 rooms built to identical specifications to those in Founder’s Court.

230 en suite rooms opened in September 2013 in Chancellor’s and Founder’s Court to enhance the experience for the increasing numbers of students who wish to live on campus.

This added to the 384 en-suite rooms in six separate blocks to the east of the on-campus sports centre, that were completed in 2012.

A lakeside view of the Chancellors' halls of residence.

The eco-friendly halls of residence boast ultra-modern high-quality bedroom spaces clustered together in self-catered flats of 4, 6 or 8 rooms sharing kitchen and dining facilities. Kitchens include fridge, freezer, cooker, microwave, kettle, iron and ironing board and a 32” LCD Freeview tv (licence provided). Rooms include a fridge, internet-connected computer and flat screen monitor. These facilities are some of the best in the sector for students to enjoy a safe and secure living environment.