Regeneration specialist St Modwen will start work shortly on a £50 million development of student accommodation and other new facilities at Swansea University’s Campus Bay development.
This latest deal on the £450 million first phase of the redevelopment, where St Modwen, who own the 65 acre site, and the University are in partnership, brings the total construction under way on the site to one million sq ft. St Modwen acquired the site, a former BP facility, on the shorefront on the eastern approach to Swansea, in 2009 and was selected as the University’s development partner in 2013.
The latest deal will provide 545 student apartments by Spring 2016, plus student facilities including a gym, sports hall, Student union offices, meeting spaces, a launderette and a crèche. There will be a total of 1,462 student apartments on the site as well as some 465,000 sq ft of education facilities including the College of Engineering and School of Management whose building will be ready for occupation in September 2015.
The Great Hall, Bay Library and School of Management are all part of this phase of development, as well as a new Institute of Structural Materials (home to Swansea Material and Research Testing Ltd), Engineering Central (home to the Innovation Hub), Engineering East (home to the Engineering Manufacturing Centre) and an Energy Safety Research Institute (ESRI).
Many of these buildings will be ‘topped out’ this summer. Work on a permanent new Campus entrance has started.
St Modwen’s South Wales' regional director Rupert Joseland said: "The development at the Swansea University Bay Campus is starting to take shape with many of the key buildings now well under way as the project's first phase gears up to complete next year.
“This new campus development is a major highlight of St Modwen's ongoing 3,500 acre regeneration programme across South Wales and this latest agreement with the university is the next step in the vision to create a world-class educational establishment that will benefit students, staff and the local community for generations to come."
