Key messages from a University of Bristol update on the Temple Quarter campus are set out below.
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Phase one of the Temple Quarter Enterprise Campus will provide academic and engagement facilities for management, social science, innovation and entrepreneurship, computer science and engineering. It will host some large multidisciplinary research programmes.
However, the main construction contract for phase one will not begin until the major risks associated with the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic and Brexit are deemed manageable, even if this means further delays to the project. While enabling works have progressed on site over the past year, the main construction work will not begin until the full impact of the pandemic and Brexit are clear and manageable. Some of the spaces and layouts may be redesigned so that they are more easily adaptable to future needs. Provided that the UK’s current momentum in the fight against COVID-19 is maintained, the main construction build will start in July 2022 and opening the new campus during the second half of 2025.
The University has initiated a project to locate some specialist lab facilities and supporting hub spaces into the existing stone buildings on Avon Street (previously the Vauxhall Drive workshop). The work will regenerate and utilise some of the existing buildings earlier than initially planned and will be subject to a change of use planning permission.
The Outline Planning Application for longer-term development of the Wales and West Utilities site and the rest of the Vauxhall and Kawasaki Drive sites on Avon Street and Gas Lane is due to be submitted 8 April 2021. You can view the plans online. The Outline Planning application will seek permission for a mix of research, enterprise and education spaces along with public realm, recreational leisure space and scope for supporting localised retail services such as shops and cafes.