By Carmelo Garcia – Local Democracy Reporter
The construction hoarding around the former Debenhams in Gloucester is being removed.
The University of Gloucestershire’s City Campus at the 20,000sqm former department store in Kings Square is due to open later this year.
And as part of the plans the first two floors of the five storey landmark will be used for teaching from summer 2025.
And on Wednesday, (May 21) the ground floor windows could be seen along Northgate Street and The Oxebode side of the former Bon Marché department store.
And parking along The Oxebode has been suspended by Gloucesterhire County Council until May 23, according to a notice on a fence in front of the building.
Hempsted and Westgate County Councillor Rebecca Trimnell (LD) says the city is ready and looking forward to its final opening. She believes it will be a university “fit for the future of Gloucester”.
“It is a long time coming,” she said. “But it is certainly worth the wait.
“It’s great to see it in the next stage of its development. I know we are ready and waiting, looking forward to its final opening and to embrace the students that will walk through the doors of this new learning environment.
“A building that is set up and ready for the future is what this city needs and I am pleased to see that it is progressing well”.
The university’s plans for the building will see the ground floor used as a shared space with the county library moving there from Brunswick Road.The students’ union and a shared flexible space for teaching and events will also be on the ground floor.
It will also host business engagement activity and a student-led law clinic, offering opportunities for training, events and incubation, as well as free legal advice to people in the city centre.
The second floor will include a 160-seat lecture theatre and an immersive virtual reality room.
There will also be an electroencephalogram lab where students can learn about the naturally occurring electric activity taking place in the brain, and monitor how it is affected by various tasks, conditions and other factors.
It will also include Gloucestershire NHS Integrated Care Board’s health, arts and wellbeing treatment rooms.
The university has also used Crittall Windows, who installed the original feature buildings in the 1930s, to install replicas. The new windows are double glazed for improved energy efficiency.
In March 2021, University of Gloucestershire announced it had bought Gloucester’s Debenhams building. Their aim is to enable its ambitious plans for growth and to work with partners to create a new future for the city.
The iconic building is being brought back to life as a vibrant campus in the heart of the city – a modern centre for teaching, learning and community partnerships.
“The graduates we train there will go into jobs that are crucial to the future of our region. It will provide new opportunities for the people who live here and attract new talent,” a university spokesperson previously said.
“Over the lifetime of the project, it is estimated that the Gloucester campus project will add over £700 million of direct and indirect value to the economy.”
“The University’s construction partner, the Morgan Sindall Group, is working alongside the multi-disciplined design team led by ADP Architecture to bring the University’s vision for the new campus to life.
“The development of this 20,000m2 building will place University of Gloucestershire right at the heart of its community, creating a vibrant hub of new activity in Kings Square.