Plans revealed for a major campus expansion at Birmingham City University

Gillespies are delivering the new public realm for the expansion of Birmingham City University's City South Campus. The new School of Life and Sciences — designed by architects Sheppard Robson — will provide 10,500 square meters of new teaching space, enabling the university to offer a wider range of health, education and life science courses and increase student intake.

Gillespies' designs for enhancing the landscaping  include outdoor teaching spaces, an eco-garden with swale and wetland habitat, sculptural mounding utilising spoil from the construction site, alongside feature paving with text based artwork integrated around a series of plazas.

Set within a leafy conservation area, the design extends the geometry of the new building into the landscape to integrate the University seamlessly into the surrounding area, creating a distinctive new University Quarter.

The project will be completed in Autumn 2017.