Bristol uni delays £300m Temple campus

The University of Bristol has again delayed plans for a £300m campus due to “uncertainties” caused by Brexit and the pandemic.

The new Temple Quarter Campus is now expected to open in 2025 after initially being due to open next year. The university said it was “recalibrating” the scheme due to the impact of both Brexit and COVID-19 yet to be fully realised.

When built, the new campus will see up to 1,000 students housed in three new tower blocks as well as new teaching space and lecture halls. A number of buildings including a former Royal Mail sorting office were demolished in 2019 to make way for the new campus.

The university now plants to start the main construction works on the Cattle Market Road site in the summer of 2022, with the anticipated opening of the new campus during the second half of 2025. Adjacent to the Cattle Market Road site, the university is working to open new research facilities in the existing buildings on Avon Street in early 2022.

Enabling works for the new campus have progressed over the course of 2020 with the new campus fitting into the wider plans for 10,000 new homes and a refurbished Bristol Temple Meads station.

University of Bristol’s chief property officer Barra Mac Ruairí said: “We are committed to Temple Quarter. We have taken on a challenging site in a challenging time with a scheme which is unique in terms of its activity.

“Our ambition is clear but any delay is disappointing, our vision for the Temple Quarter Enterprise Campus has not changed and we remain 100 per cent committed to contribute to the research, innovation and skills required to drive the city and region’s post-COVID recovery and help regenerate and deliver the future vision for Temple Quarter and St Philip’s Marsh.”