£12.5m student accommodation project kicks off at Brackenhurst

The six three-storey blocks are being developed to house 191 further education and higher education students.

Work on the £12.5m project is due to be completed in readiness for the 2019/20 academic year.

The accommodation is being created to meet demand for existing and future students at the campus, which is home to the university’s School of Animal, Rural and Environmental Sciences.

As well as the bedrooms there will be two warden flats and a communal recreation room for students.

As part of the project, special wildlife crossing points will be fitted under new gravel pathways as the campus is home to wildlife including a large great crested newt population.

It is part of the wider redevelopment of the Brackenhurst Campus.

Work is already underway on the new flagship building – a main reception and adjoining environment centre – which will open in 2019 and will be the new ‘heart of the campus’.

Other work has included the refurbishment of Brackenhurst Farm to provide new student social space, refurbishment of the orangery and the creation of a larger teaching laboratory in the Bramley Building.

The university also opened a new world-class poultry research unit – one of just a handful of its kind in Europe – last year. This purpose-built facility focuses on improving the nutrition, welfare and sustainability of poultry production.

The Brackenhurst Campus has been a provider of land-based education and skills training for more than half a century. It offers specialist courses spanning animal and equine science, ecology and wildlife conservation, veterinary nursing, geography, horticulture, environmental science, and food science and technology.

Clegg Construction is the main contractor for the new student accommodation.