New City Hub set to inspire students at Nottingham College

Nottingham College was formed following a merger between the city’s New College and Central College in June 2017. The College strives to deliver a world-class educational experience, ensuring the qualifications it provides and the students that graduate are equipped with everything they need to succeed in the industry and play a crucial role in the growth of Nottingham’s future economy.

A key requirement of the College being able to deliver that strategic offer is a new £38m City Hub campus which will accommodate around 2,000 students and, which is set to be a landmark addition to Nottingham’s skyline. The City Hub forms part of an ambitious £250m Southern Gateway regeneration scheme, spearheaded by Nottingham City Council. Other initiatives within the scheme include the extensive redevelopment of the intu Broadmarsh Centre, the rebuild of the Broadmarsh bus station and car park and the remodelling of surrounding road and pedestrian routes.

The new campus will provide high-quality college and community facilities, together with a new business hub. This multifunctional space will encourage the growth of new business start-ups, increase collaboration between the college and local employers and provide the wider community with access to improved training and skills resources. Additionally, the campus building will house a new performing arts centre, student retail space, café, restaurant and bar.

The City Hub will be built on currently unoccupied brownfield land next to the Broadmarsh Centre and tram overpass at the foot of Lace Market Cliff, helping the council to utilise their property estate to deliver more for the local community. The design of this six-storey building, led by architects Bond Bryan, will complement the surroundings and pay homage to the area’s industrial heritage.

Wates will be supported by an extensive, local supply chain whose expertise and specialist knowledge will be pivotal to the delivery of this landmark building. Throughout the project, a range of training and employment opportunities will be available for local people, including 24 work placements, 16 jobs, 13 apprentices and 11 NVQs.

Throughout the duration of the build, Wates will also work closely with the College’s construction team, coordinating a significant student engagement programme to demonstrate the wide variety of career opportunities within the built environment.

A meet the buyer event in March designed to engage with the local supply chains demonstrated our commitment to engagement with the local community throughout the project. Attendees were given the chance to meet the teams at Wates and delegates from the College, the design team, training providers and the Council, to support the vital inclusion of local Small-Medium Enterprises (SMEs) on this ground-breaking scheme.

Work on the City Hub began in summer 2018 with a ground-breaking ceremony on Friday 22 June, and is due to be completed in 2020.