University Centre future uses

A feasibility study was carried out in 2024 to assess potential uses for a refurbished University Centre, including a survey of members of the University community.  

The interim use of the University Centre as the location for a number of teams relocating from the Mill Lane North has now been agreed. These include Occupational Health, IdeaSpace and the Newcomers and Visiting Scholars. 

Since its completion almost 60 years ago there has been no significant refurbishment of the University Centre. The extent of the maintenance and asset replacement that would be required to sustain the building’s long-term operational use would require a multi-million-pound project equivalent to the refurbishment of the David Attenborough Building or the Stirling Building. 

In July 2025 the University Council and the General Board approved an estates capital plan which provisionally allocates the capital funding that is expected to be available to the University over the next 20 years. That plan is informed by discussions with Schools and institutions during 2024 and 2025 and seeks to implement – within a constrained financial envelope – the University’s academic priorities and its ambitions for an estate that is smaller, more fit-for-purpose and more environmentally and financially sustainable. 

The capital plan currently anticipates that funding for a comprehensive refurbishment of the University Centre will be available no earlier than 2035.