University of Bristol opens £500m campus by main train station

The University of Bristol on Monday opened its new Temple Quarter Enterprise Campus (TQEC), built on the site of a derelict former Royal Mail sorting office beside the city's main Temple Meads railway station. The old building, demolished in 2019, had once been compared to the entrance of a war zone.

The campus's proximity to the station is intended to make commuting easier for students and staff priced out of Bristol's expensive housing market, as well as for business and research visitors travelling from elsewhere. The site has been deliberately designed to be "porous," with several areas open to the general public, including spaces where people can get coffee, plug in laptops or hold meetings.

The development is a key piece of one of Britain's largest regeneration schemes, Bristol Temple Quarter, which aims to bring new homes, workspaces, and health and education facilities to one of the city's most deprived areas.

Judith Squires, the university's deputy vice-chancellor and TQEC lead, said the new campus placed the university "front and centre" in Bristol and could support a growing trend of students living at home and commuting, given high rental costs.

The centrepiece Sloane Robinson building, named after a foundation set up by former Bristol student and hedge fund manager Hugh Sloane, which donated £20m, cost £241m. The West of England Combined Authority contributed £35m towards the campus and £25m towards a new station entrance and pathways.

The campus will host public sessions on issues such as health inequalities and the climate crisis, and includes a rare circular lecture theatre. Additional nearby land purchases mean the university can expand the site further, bringing the total project cost to £500m.

Helen Godwin, mayor of the West of England, called the opening a major milestone for the region. Local writer Martin Booth said the building looked like a "gigantic spaceship" that had crash-landed by the station, but described it as a sign of the university's effort to become a more visible part of the city.