UPP’s genuine university partnerships have secured its position as a leading adviser to the HE sector. A strong communications strategy and collaborative research continue to support the company in its ambitious plans for the future.
Media Centre
27/11/2007 - UPP selected to develop new college at University of Kent
The University Partnerships Programme (UPP), the country's leading university partner in student accommodation, is to develop a new college including mixed-use academic facilities and eco-friendly student accommodation in long-term partnership with the University of Kent.
The £26 million project, which will create ‘Virginia Woolf College', involves the development and management of a range of eco-friendly accommodation including 453 new en-suite study bedrooms for post-graduate students; 50 superior en-suite rooms ; 41 studios; almost 2000m2 of teaching and conference facilities; as well as a 496-seat lecture theatre and communal pavilion. The pavilion will include a reception area, launderette, FM office, FM store and staff welfare facilities.
The accommodation being built on the University's Canterbury campus is the second use of UPP's new landmark Eco-Residence model. Developed to provide sustainable, low cost housing, the Eco-Residence uses design solutions to lessen the impact on the environment. Using timber from sustainable managed forests for the building's superstructure, the carbon-footprint of the build will be 30% less than that of a traditional superstructure. With the Eco-Residence, UPP is enshrining sustainability as a key principle from the start of building to completion of student accommodation projects and beyond.
The 50-year contract with the University of Kent is the latest milestone in a highly successful year for UPP that has also seen accommodation projects at Lancaster University and Loughborough University reach financial close. Through these deals UPP will have invested over £300 million into UK universities during 2007.
Sean O'Shea, Managing Director at UPP, said:
"This is a particularly exciting time for UPP, as our expansion plans take on real momentum. Our partnership model is particularly effective for a wide-ranging project such as this where we are working with the University of Kent to develop a new, fifth college for the university.
"Through being able to offer first class accommodation, UPP is able to add real value to our university partners, assisting them in ensuring they remain competitive and enabling them to attract large volumes of applicants."
Professor Keith Mander, Deputy Vice-Chancellor of the University of Kent, said:
"the new college - our first new college for over 35 years - will accommodate postgraduate students, reflecting a significant growth in the university's postgraduate activities". The College is to be named after Virginia Woolf, one of the major English novelists and public intellectuals of the twentieth century, who wrote that, even compared with Florence and Venice, "There is no lovelier place in the world than Canterbury".
ENDS
For more information, please contact:
Ian Lindsley, Ben Russell, Fran O’Leary, Jefferson CommunicationsTel: +44 (0)20 7256 8912
Email:
,
,
Page 1 of 1 pages