The new hall, which is scheduled to be completed for the 2027/28 academic year, is an essential development to accommodate our undergraduate student numbers and will generate important income for the University at this time.
The development will impact some of the car parks on campus and will also require some changes to vehicular and pedestrian access around the site.
Car parks 5, 5a and 21 (the car park near the former Chemistry building) all lie within the development site and will no longer be available. To mitigate the impact, temporary car parks are being created on sites next to Towers (formerly John Clements and Ann Packer), offering approximately 160 additional bays in the East Park area, which we know is a high-demand zone. These will be operational from 5 January 2026. Please do not park in these areas before that date.
Then, in early 2026, on completion of the works at the swimming pool, we will return half of the short-stay area near the Students’ Union to staff parking.
These measures will largely restore parking provision to a level similar to current availability.
In addition to the provision of temporary parking, the frequency of the on-campus shuttle bus service is being increased to make it easier to get from the multi-storey car park (Car Park 1) near the Wolfson Building, where there is nearly always available parking, to the central and eastern areas of the campus. The interactive campus Parking Map allows you to view parking bay numbers in all our car parks, including EV and Disabled Bay provision. Both Car Park 1 and Holywell Park have lots of available capacity on a daily basis.
As part of the accommodation development, a short section of Margaret Keay Road will be closed from the Garden of Remembrance to the corner of the Morag Bell building. Both the Garden and Morag Bell Building will remain accessible. Pedestrian routes around the site will also be altered.
All vehicle and pedestrian diversions will be signposted on site. This map shows the road closures, vehicle and pedestrian routes around the site and the location of the temporary car parks next to Towers.
