University of Glos's regeneration of former Debenhams store delivers new campus

By Nicky Godding

13 March 2024

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artist’s impression of the ground floor with the public café to the left, looking towards the central social learning space and atrium

The University of Gloucestershire has revealed plans for its new campus that will bring nearly 4,000 students into the heart of Gloucester and bring benefits to local people.

The University’s vision for the former Debenhams building, which it bought in 2021, has always been to transform it into a centre for learning, teaching, research, community partnerships; playing a leading role in the regeneration of Gloucester.

Elsewhere across the country, former Debenhams stores are being repurposed for life sciences in Oxford, a warehousing facility in Swindon, flats in Bristol - or even demolished in Southampton.

At the heart of the Gloucester plans are city centre access for the public, with facilities including the new Gloucestershire County Council library, a Health, Arts and Wellbeing Centre in partnership with the NHS Integrated Care Board, and a public café looking on to Kings Square.

The phased opening of these will begin in late 2024, when more than 1,000 students will start to access teaching activity at the new campus. A programme of business and community engagement will run alongside, including the student-led Law Clinic, which will provide free legal advice to local people. The new campus will be home to nearly 4,000 students and 350 staff when all phases are complete.

The university also aims to create an Institute for Education at the new campus. The university has a heritage of training teachers and other professionals, and facilities at the new campus will help drive growth and development in these areas, with education, psychology and social work students and staff making the move in phase one.

Richard Graham, MP for Gloucester, said: “Our City Campus is taking shape, and new announcements today of a free Law Clinic and an Institute for Education add to the many benefits of University of Gloucestershire’s arrival into Kings Square.

“Easily accessible skills training is vital for our City Centre regeneration and the next stage of our journey to be Britain’s Best Small City. I look forward to seeing the interior digital designs of the public spaces soon.”

University of Gloucestershire Vice-Chancellor, Clare Marchant, said: “Having consolidated and strengthened our Academic Schools, we have taken the opportunity to look again at how our new Gloucester campus can best deliver a connected and high-quality student and staff experience; and help us meet our ambitions to grow and be more connected to our community.

“Having the teachers, psychologists and social workers of the future being trained in the heart of the city presents a unique opportunity for strengthening our community connections, through placements, research and outreach activity.”

Keep up to date with progress on the Gloucester campus project here.

By Nicky Godding

Nicky Godding is editor of The Business Magazine. Before her journalism career, she worked mainly in public relations moving into writing when she was invited to launch Retail Watch, a publication covering retail and real estate across Europe.

After some years of constant travelling, she tucked away her passport and concentrated on business writing, co-founding a successful regional business magazine. She has interviewed some of the UK’s most successful entrepreneurs who have built multi-million-pound businesses and reported on many science and technology firsts.

She reports on the region’s thriving business economy from start-ups, family businesses and multi-million-pound corporations, to the professionals that support their growth and the institutions that educate the next generation of business leaders.