Ocon to deliver £65m Liverpool student scheme

LIVERPOOL University has submitted plans to build more than 1,200 new en-suite student bedrooms.

The new rooms, which will be built on Brownlow Hill and Crown St, are part of its overall £600m campus redevelopment announced last year. Ocon Construction has been chosen as preferred partner to deliver this latest phase, which sits on a 1.6-hectare site on the existing on the site of the existing Veterinary Science building.

It is also spending £10m on new facilities for the school, which will be moved to its Thompson Yates building. A new Veterinary Science teaching suite will also open at Great Newton Street. The largest research group in the current Crown Street building, working on veterinary infectious diseases, will move into bespoke laboratories within the Liverpool Science Park in July.

The new halls will house 1,259 en-suite rooms with retail units below. The university has said that the units will be “at the cutting edge of sustainable design”.

The project is the second phase of the university’s major ongoing campus redevelopment and follows on from a £44m project to develop 710 en-suite rooms at Myrtle St, which is due to complete in September ahead of the new academic year.

Steve Dickson, director of facilities management at Liverpool University, said: “It’s important that we make this investment to meet demand in the future. The student population is extremely important to the city – students contribute around £300 million to Liverpool’s economy every year.

“The university remains heavily over-subscribed but it’s important that all aspects of our student experience, including our accommodation, remain world-class. “

Joe Anderson, newly elected Mayor of Liverpool, said: “This development will increase the appeal of the University of Liverpool to potential students right across the country and the world, contributing to Liverpool’s growing status as a distinctive global city. It will also provide a much needed boost to the city in terms of jobs and training opportunities for local people.”