UCLan shortlists architects for £50m campus gateway project

The architect teams bidding for the chance to design UCLan’s new multi-million pound campus gateway have been shortlisted.

The £50m project includes the creation of a new civic square and student support facility within the university’s wider £200m, 10-year Campus Masterplan development.

The competition, organised by The Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA), saw 41 entries whittled down to just seven teams representing:

• Associated Architects (Birmingham)
• Austin Smith: Lord LLP (Liverpool, Cardiff and Glasgow)
• Feilden Clegg Bradley (Manchester, Bath, Belfast and London)
• Hawkins\Brown (Manchester and London)
• Nicholas Hare Architects (London)
• Sheppard Robson (Manchester and London)
• Stanton Williams (London)

UCLan’s chief operating officer, Michael Ahern, said the competition’s opening attracted “significant interest” from the architectural community.

He continued: “We are looking forward to working with such an outstanding shortlist of architects on this phase of the project.

“The standard of submissions was world class but what made the shortlist stand out was their grasp of our key aspirations and desire to create a new heart of campus development for both the University and the City and to enrich the student experience here at UCLan.”

Combined, the civic square and the support hub will be the same size as Trafalgar Square in London.

In the next stage of the competition the shortlisted architects will develop their initial concepts further, ahead of the final judging stage in August.

Last week, UCLan was given the go ahead to deliver its new £30m Engineering Innovation Centre in Preston.