£21m revamp for university
Work set to be completed in 2020
A £21 million plan to transform the University of Stirling has been unveiled.
The Campus Central project is one of the university’s biggest infrastructure investments since its foundation, designed with input from the Students’ Union, staff and local stakeholders. Campus Central will provide: •New study and learning spaces – and enhanced student support facilities.
• Create meeting areas for learning and research students.
• Establish a new gateway to the Macrobert Arts Centre.
• Offer better shop and eateries for university staff, students and visitors.
• Enhance the visual appeal of the campus, maximising the impact of the natural surroundings.
Work on the programme is expected to begin in early 2019, and be completed around September 2020.
It will also see the refurbishment of the existing Atrium, creation of a new three-storey building, and a re-landscaped, traffic-free Queen’s Court.
The project will see a new entrance and central welcome area for the Andrew Miller Building, with retail, catering, events space and student support services facilities. It will also feature expanded and enhanced meeting and social learning and study space at the Atrium.
The Queen’s Court ground-floor level will provide the gateway to the Macrobert Arts Centre, student support services, meeting and multi-purpose learning spaces. The upper second-floor will house an interdisciplinary, collaborative research space and the Graduate School.
More than 3,000 square metres of additional floor space will be created and about 2,500 square metres of refurbished Atrium space.
Campus Central will also bring a new and improved transport hub, minor changes to car parking and new bus routes through the campus.
On completion of the main Campus Central building works, the Queen’s Court will be fully transformed into a pedestrianised zone, with the exception of access for emergency and service vehicles.
University principal Professor Gerry McCormac said: “The transformation of the centre of our campus is one of the university’s key ambitions to support the achievement of our strategic aims in learning, teaching and research. It will enable us to significantly enhance the Stirling student experience and to deliver facilities commensurate with our ambitions to be one of the top 25 universities in the UK.”
University of Stirling Students’ Union president, Astrid Smallenbroek, said: “The Students’ Union is excited by the university’s plans to transform the heart of the campus, to further enhance the student experience. We are working in partnership with the university on this project and particularly welcome further improvements to the university’s student support service facilities, and that Stirling students will benefit from new study and social learning spaces.”