The Big Build is throwing up many opportunities for current students to get involved in ways that directly contribute to and enhance their learning experience on campus.

Working in partnership with Kier, the construction company building the new multi-storey car park, we will be providing:

• Two one-year long student placement opportunities
• Six shorter-term student placements
• A range of specialist lectures
• A programme of site visits/talks
• Access to a full range of project documentation (eg architectural drawings, engineering blueprints, project plans), linked to course modules
• Interview skills/CV workshops

Kier will also be sponsoring a graduation prize in a construction-related discipline.

Further information on all of these opportunities will be made available to students via their courses in the coming months. We will also be adding further opportunities to the programme once new contractors are on board for the other elements of the Big Build.

• September 2018 – work begins on new multi-storey car park on current Watts car park site
• January 2019 – work begins on new student accommodation and Students’ Union facilities on current Mithras car park site
• May 2019 – new multi-storey car park opens
• June 2019 – work on new academic building starts
• During 2021 – new student accommodation, Students’ Union facilities and academic building open

The Big Build is now officially underway with the start of work on the new multi-storey car park.

Hoardings have now been installed around part of the existing Watts car park carrying artwork highlighting key aspects of the campus development. This will be of particular interest to new students as they join the University for Welcome Week.

Lead contractor Kier have begun the groundworks for the new multi-storey car park which, once completed in 2019, will free up space for the rest of the development.

One of the key drivers for the development of the Moulsecoomb campus is the need to be able to provide more of our students with high-quality and affordable accommodation.

The 800 new student bedrooms that form the centrepiece of the development will be housed in five new halls of residence. The halls, which like all the other parts of the development are being built to the highest environmental standards, will sit on one of our current car parks. Students have had a hand in shaping the design and specification of the rooms and communal areas to ensure that they meet the needs and expectations of users.

The halls will stand on plinths that will house new Students’ Union and fitness facilities that will provide a new focal point for social life on campus.

Once completed, the new accommodation and student facilities will help to transform life on campus making it a great place to live as well as to study.

The striking design for our new Academic Building gained final planning clearance in August.

The building, that will house our Business School, will provide a stunning new ‘front door’ for the campus and a major new landmark on the Lewes Road.

Architects HASSELL have taken their inspiration from the famous ‘murmuration’ of flocks of starlings that gather across the Brighton seafront. This look will be achieved by wrapping the building in a ‘veil’ partly fitted with handmade geometric matt, gloss and semi-gloss tiles that will suggest movement as the light changes.

The overall design is deliberately simple with the emphasis on creating a building that is ‘open for business’ and welcoming and able to showcase the activities taking place inside. Features include a triple-storey atrium providing a social and public performance and exhibition space and café as well as range of flexible teaching and collaborative spaces.

Sustainability is at the heart of the new building which will utilise passive heating and cooling as well as natural ventilation. Solar panels and water collectors will also be installed.

Work on the new building will start in summer 2019 with completion expected in 2021.

All of the main elements of the campus development are being built on land currently used for car parking. That is why our new multi-storey car park will be the first element of the transformation to be completed.

The final detail of the design for the multi-storey car park was considered by the Planning Committee of Brighton & Hove Council earlier this month. We were delighted when it not only met with unanimous approval but drew praise from the Committee for aspects of its design.

Once completed, the multi-storey car park will replace all existing car parking spaces on the campus, and provide bike spaces with lockers and showers and electric vehicle charging points. Additional bike spaces will be created across the rest of the campus.

The exterior façade of the building uses perforated panels to create a light and permeable feel and incorporates green vertical planting that blends in with the existing greenery at the rear of the campus.

Like all other buildings in the transformation programme, the multi-storey car park will be built to the highest BREEAM sustainability standards.

Work is due to start shortly with completion expected by May 2019.

The Lewes Road is one of the main arterial routes into the city of Brighton & Hove. The stretch that includes the long-neglected Preston Barracks site has been the subject of many failed attempts at regeneration over the past 40 years. Read More →

With over 7,500 students and 1,500 staff based at Moulsecoomb as well as our neighbours who live and work in the area, carrying out a major transformation on a busy working urban campus is no easy matter. Read More →

Whilst many might view having a £60 million three-year construction site on their doorstep as an unwelcome intrusion – for many of our students this is a fantastic opportunity to gain some unique learning experiences. Read More →