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Fallowfield Campus Redevelopment Project
Our priority is to deliver a varied and environmentally sustainable portfolio across the University’s estate that enriches the student experience. Our proposal to redevelop the Fallowfield Campus was approved by Manchester City Council in January 2024.
The approved plans encompass the redevelopment of Owens Park, Oak House and Woolton Hall to meet the increasing demand for student bedrooms in inclusive, safe and sociable surroundings. Located near to the University’s main buildings, the site is well-connected and provides students with a wide range of support services to ensure a world-class student experience.
On completion, the wider Fallowfield Campus will offer up to 5,400 student beds by replacing the existing, older accommodation on site and delivering 3,300 updated bedspaces to meet the growing demand for high-quality, modern bedrooms across the popular campus.
Redevelopment of the site following demolition of the existing buildings represents the best option to achieve a student experience aligned to students’ expectations in today’s competitive accommodation market.
The design of the new buildings will aim to ensure both their initial construction and long-term operation are aligned with our approach to environmental sustainability.
Our objectives for the project are to:
• Meet student accommodation need, demand and increasing supply.
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• Provide modern and high-quality student accommodation.
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• Offer a mix of bedrooms to cater for different needs and price points relative to the wider market in the city.
• Provide a supportive residential experience.
Alongside this, the Fallowfield Campus has the potential to contribute wider benefits to the city beyond the need for student beds.
The delivery of modern student accommodation promotes city-wide regeneration objectives in supporting employment growth, graduate and talent retention and developing Manchester as a city of choice on the international market, and in supporting the wider housing market by catering for specific needs.
Our approved proposals for the south west corner of the Fallowfield Campus (the site boundary is depicted by the red line on the plan, covering Owen’s Park, Oak House and Woolton Hall) seek to replace existing bedrooms on site with up to 3,300 new bed spaces.
This would result in up to 5,400 bedrooms across the Fallowfield Campus, helping to uplift the current number of bedrooms by up to 950 to meet growing demand. By widening the supply, it would provide students with greater choice, helping to meet demand for high-quality, modern bedrooms across the popular campus.
The site is in a well-connected, sustainable and accessible location and presents an opportunity to create an improved campus environment.
The guiding design principles that are being developed to shape and guide placemaking on site may include:
- Retaining the primary student arrival point on Wilmslow Road.
- Retaining the existing perimeter tree planting and overall green character.
- Increasing the number of amenity spaces including green spaces and hubs to cater for students across the Fallowfield campus.
- Supporting a network of pedestrian routes to enable a walkable campus environment.
- Providing safe and accessible cycle storage.
The redevelopment will be delivered in multiple phases and includes the demolition of Owens Park Tower, which has been closed for several years. Outline planning consent has been granted and we have chosen Viridis as our a delivery partner.
In June 2023 there was a public consultation period on the proposals before the submission of our planning application to Manchester City Council.
We held a drop-in event on Wednesday, 14 June 2023 between 3pm and 7pm at Uttley House on the Fallowfield Campus and a live public webinar on Thursday, 15 June 2023 between 6pm and 7pm. A recording of the webinar session can be viewed below for those who were unable to attend.
Public webinar recording: