Two student accommodation projects set for completion for the 2022/23 academic year have secured the required forward funding of £43.8 million by major diversified real estate investor Barings.   Managed by award-winning developer Alumno, the properties will provide must needed accommodation for students based in Manchester and Bermondsey in London.    The 4,600 square metre project on Bermondsey Spa Gardens is Alumno’s fourth development in the London Borough of Southwark and will provide fully integrated facilities for 143 students. These include high-quality rooms with shared amenities, such as a basement cinema lounge, study room and community area. The site is located close to Bermondsey underground station with good access to several world renowned higher educational institutions. HG Construction, which recently completed Alumno`s latest project in Norwich, has been appointed as the main contractor. In line with Alumno’s policy of delivering key benefits to the local communities adjacent to its projects, the developer is working with a Bermondsey nursery to help with a historical legacy book, as well as refurbishing a playground, and collaborating on an innovative wayfinding scheme to help visually impaired students find their way around the area.   The 1,449 square metre central Manchester development will comprise 62 studio apartments, along with a communal area, rooftop terrace, office and feature storage space for 12 bikes. It is located within the campus of Manchester Metropolitan University, with the Manchester University Campus close by. Alumno is also partnering with charity One Manchester to raise £50,000 for local projects, and is again helping to fund a wayfinding project. GMI Construction Group has been appointed the main contractor on this scheme. In both cases, Alumno will commission new art to enhance the public spaces around each building, another trademark of all its developments.  “We are absolutely delighted to have concluded this agreement with Barings, a world leading real estate investor,” said David Campbell, Founder and Managing Director of Alumno. “This is a huge boost for our business coming into 2021. It also highlights the confidence in bringing forward major investment into the purpose-built student accommodation (PBSA) sector, which has again demonstrated its resilience during these challenging times.” Commenting on the funding, Darren Hutchinson, Managing Director – Head of UK Real Estate Transactions at Barings, said: “These are two high-quality PBSA assets in very strong locations in London and Manchester. Both London and Manchester are undersupplied markets supported by strong universities and a deep occupier demand. We are excited to work with Alumno to create well-designed, contemporary accommodation that will appeal to a wide range of students.”  

National-contractor Tolent has handed over a new £12.5m student accommodation scheme on Burley Street in Leeds. Known as Union, the development has created 87 extremely spacious and thoroughly modern studio apartments within easy walking distance of both the University of Leeds and Leeds Beckett University, as well as Leeds city centre. Built on behalf of Burley Place Ltd (BPL), the seven storey building used 5,700 tonnes of concrete and over 55,000 bricks to create its structure.  John Currie, regional director for Tolent, said: “Union has been a fantastic project to work on and our teams can be really proud of what they have achieved. We’ve completed over 3,000 student accommodation schemes across several major cities including Leeds, York, Newcastle, Liverpool and Manchester and this project is another fantastic development to put our name to. “This was our first project with BPL and having received such positive feedback on the quality and collaborative working on site, we hope to work with the team again in the future.” All the apartments benefit from en-suite luxury bathrooms, modern kitchens, entertaining space, double beds, contemporary furniture, flat screen TVs and high-speed fibre optic internet. The development also includes several wheelchair friendly apartments.  Hamze Idriss, managing director of Burley Place Ltd, said: “Union will set a new benchmark in terms of the standard of accommodation on offer and the lifestyle students who live here will enjoy. “Every apartment has been specifically designed to combine spacious living areas with their own high quality kitchens and luxury bathrooms. There is also a superb range of facilities within the development, including a gym, gaming areas, and large communal lounges and kitchens where students can relax and socialise. As a result, it’s proving very popular with students who are already reserving apartments to move into from the UK and overseas.” In addition, Co-op has opened a handy convenience store on the ground floor. Tolent has worked across the central region of the UK since 1990, delivering a variety of contracts from industrial, leisure and more recently student accommodation. Projects ongoing in the area include the £34m build-to-rent residential scheme on Sweet Street in Leeds. Working on behalf of property developer Oakapple Group, the development known as Fabrik is part of the Holbeck Urban Village in the south bank area of the city and includes a mix of 216 one, two and three bedroom rental apartments.

Work on the third phase of the redevelopment of Sheffield’s Park Hill Estate into student accommodation has been completed. Béton House provides accommodation for 356 students, including townhouses and a number of two- and four-bedroom apartments, and studios. Alumno, the student accommodation specialist, worked with Whittam Cox Architects on the design and building shell restoration, as well as with Kier Construction to adapt the building. Homes for Students is now based at Béton House to welcome and settle in new students, and manage the building. Other collaborators were interior design businesses Ben Kelly Design and Brinkworth with Graphic Thought Facility. “We create living spaces for students all over the UK. This year more than ever it is important to provide quality term time homes for students, and the adaptation of this amazing brutalist structure by Whittam Cox is exemplary providing an ideal place for students to both study and socialise,” said David Campbell, managing director of Alumno. “The whole project has been a fantastic team effort from planning, design, construction through to the influence of some great creative interior designers and artists. It is so heartening to see Béton House fully functional and occupied and to see students enjoying living there.” The students have joined a 700-strong community that has been living and working at Park Hill since 2013, following the completion of the first phase of development by JV Partners Urban Splash and Places for People. “We have worked incredibly hard to understand the deep roots of the original design which is clearly very unique in architectural character. Our designs retain and celebrate all of the important elements of the original scheme, while respectfully adding new layers of identity and design thinking to create three-storey townhouses for student residents, using the famous ‘streets in the sky’ of course,” added Nick Riley, board director at Whittam Cox Architects. “We are particularly proud to be associated with Park Hill as we are a local practice; this building is culturally and physically an intrinsic part of Sheffield for many people, so being part of realising its next chapter is hugely important to us.” The second phase is set to complete at the end of next year and includes a further 195 homes and commercial space for businesses.

The demolition plans of a prominent office block in Leeds’ Arena Quarter have been revealed, as well as the construction of a 43-storey tower that could become one of the tallest buildings in Yorkshire. Olympian Homes will present pre-application proposals for the Arena Point building on Merrion Way to Leeds City Council’s City Plans Panel next week. Under the plans, the existing 19-storey office building, previously known as Tower House, would be demolished and a new 43-storey tower built on the site. The new building would provide a total of 694 student bedspaces in a mix of studios and clusters flats. About 9,100 sq ft of dedicated amenity space, as well as an external roof terrace, would also be created. Councillors will be asked for feedback on the proposed development, including their views on the loss of office space and proposed student accommodation use, the approach to living conditions, and the mass and form of the new building. The elevated terrace on the west side of the Arena Point building, which includes the reception to the offices, has recently been partially redeveloped, with Unite Students ‘ White Rose View development comprising 17- and 27-storey buildings opened in September 2020. The entrance lobby would be demolished under the new plans. The former site of Hume House, adjacent to Arena Point, is currently being redeveloped by Olympian Homes as Altus House. The new 37-storey student accommodation development is set to become the tallest building in Yorkshire. The current tallest building in the region is the 112-metre Bridgewater Place. Two applications have been submitted this year for 38- and 39-storey buildings in Sheffield that could take the crown, while an application was lodged in May for a 46-storey residential tower on land at Cartwright House in Holbeck.

Bull Products, a manufacturer of life-saving fire protection equipment, is taking site safety to new heights during the expansion of the University of Brighton’s largest campus. Bull Products is helping to secure the safety of the workforce of leading construction company, Bouygues UK, as it delivers the multi-million development for Uliving, a student accommodation developer. The accommodation will provide over 800 student bedrooms and new fitness and social facilities at its Moulsecoomb campus. Bull is protecting the site with the Cygnus Wireless Alarms including the Fire Call Point & First Aid Alarm. This market-leader temporary fire alarm and evacuation system offers heightened site safety, ensuring workers can distinguish if a fire or first aid alarm is raised. In the case of a first aid alert, each device beeps intermittently every eight seconds. Matt Trigwell, Sales Director at Bull Products, says: “Our experience of installing our wireless fire alarms in high-rise buildings means we are well suited to protect the University of Brighton throughout the different stages of development. “A cause and effect functionality has been set up between zones which allows different personnel in each zone to escape in a controlled manner, therefore reducing accidents and trips during any evacuation.” Bull Products’ fire extinguisher trolleys, equipped with fire extinguishers and alarms, also ensure all safety equipment is stored in one convenient place. An ideal solution for larger sites, the equipment can be moved around as the site develops, offering maximum site protection where and when it is needed the most. Nicolas Amice, Site Manager at Bouygues UK, adds: “The Cygnus alarm system has been extremely efficient and reliable and has met the needs of what we required for this particular project. We are proud to be supporting Uliving, our student accommodation developer partner and sister company that is investing in the future of students by transforming its facilities and we are also delighted to be working with Bull to ensure health and safety is optimised.” For more information, contact Bull on 01432 371170, visit www.bullproducts.co.uk or email enquiries@bullproducts.co.uk 

Harvey UK, a commercial decoration company, has completed a contract to carry out the decorating and finishing of a £62 million student accommodation project on the Warwick University campus. The work had been carried out during lockdown under Covid-safe working practices. The Cryfield Village development will provide more than 800 extra student rooms on campus, made up of townhouse-style apartments and studios. The development also includes a central hub with a theatre, shops and cinema. The Henley-in-Arden-based decoration company has been carrying out all of the painting, decorating and finishing work on the apartments which are being built by Kier Central. “Cryfield village is probably one of the most colourful projects we have worked on, with apartments, stairwells and facilities painted in some very bright colours. The results are stunning, as well as providing a modern and attractive university home for the students. This work was carried out under strict Covid-safe working and social distancing practices, but was still finished on schedule,” commented managing director Tony Harvey.