Our Estate Since 1839 the estate has grown from its modest footprint at Exton Park to incorporate additional sites across Chester. In addition we have Professional Centres at Warrington and Birkenhead which provide a range of teaching and learning facilities and good access to public transport, enabling our offer to be more accessible to commuting students. In the last 3 years there has been a planned strategic rationalisation of the Estate to focus on the changing requirements of our students and stakeholders and to address our commitment to our net zero targets. We have benchmarked our carbon data, estate utilisation and sustainability targets and actively monitor these, involving colleagues across the academy and professional services. The sustainability team is committed to accessing funding for a range of projects ranging from heat generation to biodiversity net gain.
Within Chester we are focusing on aligning our sites on a north-south “ribbon” across the city centre, from Exton Park to Queen’s Park south of the River Dee. This alignment has been popular with the local council and other stakeholders and we are proud that the phrase “University City” now features in civic ambitions such as the One City Plan, and is evident in the independently researched Economic Impact Assessment 2024. With the launch of a medical school at Chester there has been significant investment in the estate. This has included re-locating the School of Education into a newly refurbished building to allow extensive refitting of the Riverside Wheeler Building to accommodate medical laboratories and simulation suites. We are committed to bringing our School of Creative Industries from a suburb into the city centre and are actively seeking an opportunity to deliver an exemplar retro fit. The increase in international students, arriving at different points in the year and with different requirements and constraints is contributing to an on-going review of our accommodation strategy. Across all our sites we are looking to model best practice in sustainable design and delivery and to deliver green spaces that contribute to the wellbeing of the users. As a major stakeholder in the city, we are key to Place Making and have formed strong working relationships with the council, heritage organisations, re-generation initiatives and private investors. The University has an important role to play in attracting investment into the area, supporting partnerships, such as the NHS Workforce Plan, and a is key player in influencing the future of the supporting infrastructure of public services and transport.
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