Flagship University of Bristol campus complete

The final phase of construction of a £500m new university campus has been completed ahead of it being opened to students in September.

The University of Bristol's Temple Quarter Enterprise Campus has been built next to Temple Meads station and will house 4,600 students, 650 members of staff and a hub for start-ups.

The university bought the site from Bristol City Council in 2017 and the derelict Royal Mail sorting office on the site was demolished in 2019 to make way for the new building.

Furniture and equipment are due to be moved into the building in the next four months. The campus is part of the 135-hectare transformation of Bristol Temple Quarter, the UK's largest regeneration project.

The campus will be connected by an eastern entrance to Temple Meads via a new public space called University Square.

There will also be a new harbour walkway, funded by the West of England Mayoral Combined Authority, connecting University Square to Temple Quay with new walking and cycling routes.

More than half of the workforce that constructed the building came from the local region.

Drone footage of the new building shows a six-storey atrium, a ground floor Exchange Hall that will be open to the public and internal gardens for students and staff.

There is also a 300-seat lecture theatre in the round to to increase participation.

Professor Judith Squires, Bristol University's deputy vice chancellor, said: "Today marks a major milestone in our drive to create a vibrant new connected campus in the heart of the city.

"It's inspiring to see our new building come to life and I'm hugely grateful to everyone who has worked so hard to get us to this point.

"I look forward to welcoming students, innovation and community partners and staff to join us in our new campus in September."

Mayor of the West of England Helen Godwin, said: "Today's completion is a big step towards unlocking the wider potential of Bristol Temple Quarter and thousands more new jobs and new homes for our region.

"The old Royal Mail building that stood on this site was once called the chipped tooth in the city's smile.

"In this new chapter, I'm happy to say that derelict site is now a distant memory as we look forward to opening Bristol Temple Meads' new eastern entrance, walkways along the harbour and the new campus in September."

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