Birley Fields Campus at Manchester Metropolitan University

Hulme, South Manchester

Birley Fields Campus at Manchester Metropolitan University

A new 12-acre green landscape provides a distinctive setting for the new Birley Fields Campus in Hulme, a state-of-the-art university that unites three key university faculties within one building. With sustainable design at its heart, the University aspires to be the greenest campus within the UK.

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A new 12-acre green landscape provides a distinctive setting for the new Birley Fields Campus in Hulme, a state-of-the-art university that unites three key university faculties within one building. With sustainable design at its heart, the University aspires to be the greenest campus within the UK.

This high profile project for Manchester Metropolitan University (MMU) and Manchester City Council creates a new unified campus for three faculties in Hulme, South Manchester. As part of the continuing urban regeneration of this area of the city, the Birley Fields campus is a new state‑of‑the‑art educational campus designed to the highest possible sustainable design credentials.

As landscape architects for this £60m development, Gillespies masterplanned a new landscape infrastructure for the development which connects with the local community and the needs of the educational establishment.

A focal plaza and formal lawns provide space for academic celebration and community events; an ‘eco garden’ contains wildflowers and wetland habitat. A herb garden provides produce for the adjacent dining room, and an orchard has been planted for a long-term university and community project. The key to unlocking the potential of these landscape elements was a series of information boards for students and local people.

"There was extensive public consultation for this building and the community was challenging but engaged. We worked with local councillors and members of the regeneration team to create the UK’s first truly sustainable campus."

John Brokes VC