ULSTER UNIVERSITY BELFAST CAMPUS, NORTHERN IRELAND 13
ULSTER UNIVERSITY BELFAST CAMPUS NORTHERN IRELAND
A centre of learning T
he historic and newly vibrant Cathedral Quarter in Belfast has recently become home to Ulster
University’s expanded city campus, situated beside Saint Anne’s Cathedral. In a deliberate effort to benefit both the city and its educational institutions by bringing them closer to the centre of Belfast, the University’s 1970s suburban campus in Jordanstown has been strategically relocated to the capital.
The new 75,000 m2 development boasts three interconnected buildings that host four faculties. These include Computing, Engineering and the Built Environment; Life and Health Sciences; Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences; and the Ulster University Business School.
Designed by Feilden Clegg Bradley Studios (FCBStudios), it connects to the university’s existing Schools of Art and Architecture, providing an educational hub for 16,000 students. FCBStudios, in collaboration with McAdam Design, won the commission for the design competition in 2010 and led consultations with the university and community stakeholders to bring the project to life. The project reached practical completion in mid 2022, and was fully occupied by the university by Q3. The logistical challenge of moving 16,000 students and staff “relates to the management of immense detail,” explains Sam Tyler, partner at FCBStudios. From thousands of pieces of specialist lab equipment to storage for academic books, every detail had to be meticulously co- ordinated, room by room.
ADF MAY 2023 A significant move
Ulster University is a multi-campus institution in Northern Ireland with locations in Coleraine, Derry/Londonderry, Jordanstown, and Belfast. The main sites were originally in Jordanstown and Coleraine, both considerably less urbanised areas. According to Tyler, this pattern was typical of the late 1960s in Northern Ireland, and relates to the political turmoil of the period and the “exertion of control” needed. Tyler says Belfast has suffered decades
of “anaemic” levels of investment, with the Troubles having a significant impact on the city’s growth and development. Not only that, but deindustrialisation in the city hasn’t been an easy process, with high levels of unemployment and economic stagnation. More recently, however, Belfast has undergone significant change, and is a vibrant and dynamic city with a thriving tech sector and a growing tourism industry. The university’s new campus is indicative of this process of regeneration.
The campus sits in the north of the city
centre, at an interface between the harbour, city centre and residential neighbourhoods. To the north west of the site, divided communities live side by side, in areas where higher education is not “commonly embraced,” states Tyler.
The shifting of the campus to this area represents an important focus on improving access to higher education for these communities. The move reflects the university’s commitment to providing opportunities for all students, regardless of background, and the institution’s
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Ulster University’s new campus is a significant and complex achievement that knits a formerly suburban education provision into a busy part of Belfast’s city centre. Feilden Clegg Bradley Studios describes the scheme to ADF’s Tom Boddy
The campus sits in the north of the city, at an interface between the harbour, city centre and residential neighbourhoods
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