The University of Stirling is opening new student accommodation in time for the autumn semester, marking the completion of the second phase of the University’s £40 million pound residences redevelopment project.
The new accommodation, Beech Court, will welcome students from Saturday 13 September, the beginning of the University’s Freshers Week.
Beech Court will provide high-quality accommodation for 300 students and features well-designed study bedrooms, spacious kitchens with dining space, increased social space and better connections to the external landscape. All of the rooms have en-suite shower rooms and 13 of the bedrooms are fully accessible for students with disabilities. There are also a number of self-contained studio apartments.
Karen Plouviez, Director of Estates and Campus Services at the University, said: “We are delighted to be opening Beech Court in time for the arrival of students for the new semester.
“The design of Beech Court is in keeping with the accommodation built during the first phase of the project. We consulted students early in the design phase to ensure that the new accommodation reflects features they feel are important, such as good natural light and modern, well-equipped social spaces, and the results were extremely well-received when we opened Willow Court and the townhouses at Alexander Court this time last year.
“The University has a reputation for delivering a high quality student experience and the ongoing redevelopment of our student accommodation will further enhance this.”
The opening of Beech Court marks the completion of the second phase of the University’s £40 million project to replace 40 per cent of the University’s total campus residential accommodation. The new accommodation at Beech Court replaces Murray Hall, one of the original halls of residence, which was demolished last year to make way for the new accommodation. As with the first phase of the redevelopment, the work was delivered by GRAHAM Construction, who have extensive experience in delivering student accommodation across Scotland and the UK.
The first phase of the project included the creation of new residences at Willow Court and Alexander Court, which opened successfully for the start of the 2013 autumn semester.
The third and final phase will see the creation of new accommodation, Juniper Court, on the site of the demolished AK Davidson Hall. When completed next year, the residences project will have resulted in 788 new bedrooms being provided across four locations.
The first two phases of the project have recorded excellent waste return figures, with 99.5% of the construction waste created during the first two phases of the project being recycled or reused, and only 0.5% being sent to landfill.