Eight ways BCU has transformed since 2010

A lot can change in ten years. Bruno Mars was the new kid on the block and Toy Story 3 was the hot topic in most primary school playgrounds. Whilst we haven’t quite become one of the best-selling artists of all time since then, we think we’ve changed a bit too. Back in 2010, most of our students could be found at our City North Campus in Perry Barr but whisk us forward to 2020 and £340 million later and things are looking poles apart today.

Here’s a quick rundown of our rapid transformation in the heart of Birmingham City Centre.

1) £41 million extension transforms our City South Campus

City South extension

Opened: Spring 2018
Cost: £41 million

This extension at our City South Campus is home to our new suite of sports and life sciences courses, with a range of specialist laboratories learning facilities. In addition to classrooms, a lecture theatre, social learning spaces, an open access IT suite and café facilities, it also provides laboratories and a hub for training public service professionals such as teachers and social workers. Did you know we’re the region’s largest provider of qualified health and social care professionals to the NHS and producer of more teachers than any other institution in the West Midlands?

2) New experimental learning space for thousands of City Centre students

The Hive at Curzon B

Opened: January 2018
Cost: £31 million

This 100,000 square foot extension to our Curzon Building offers additional teaching and learning space for 3,000 students and staff within more than 650 rooms. As well as a new dedicated IT suite for students – with nearly 100 laptops available for loan – Curzon B boasts an innovative lecture theatre called The Hive that features raked, group activity seating and integrated technology.

3) First purpose built Conservatoire in the UK for over 30 years

Conservatoire concert hall

Opened: Autumn 2017
Cost: £57 million

Our new home for the Royal Birmingham Conservatoire opened at our City Centre Campus at the end of last year. The Conservatoire is a unique contemporary building, incorporating five public performance spaces including a 500-seat concert hall for orchestral training and performance, private rehearsal and practice rooms, and teaching spaces for musicians from a variety of disciplines. It also includes The Lab, a cutting edge, completely flexible black-box studio, and the first permanent jazz space in any UK conservatoire – the 80-seat Eastside Jazz Club.

4) New home for Business, Law and Social Sciences students

Curzon Building

Opened: Summer 2015
Cost: £63 million

Our Curzon Building, which overlooks Eastside City Park, boasts one of the best views of the Birmingham City Centre skyline. It provides teaching space for Birmingham City Business School, the School of English, the School of Law and the School of Social Sciences, together with a library, IT space and other student support facilities.

5) An award-winning space for arts, design and media students

Parkside Building

Completed: Autumn 2013
Cost: £62 million

The Parkside Building at the City Centre Campus provides a home for design-related courses as well as state-of-the art media facilities, including four industry-standard TV studios with the latest Sony equipment, and ‘green screen’ MILO studio. It was honoured with a 'Sustainability Award' at the Insider West Midlands Property Awards for its low carbon and low impact design and technologies.

6) New specialist labs for technology students at Millennium Point

Millennium Point refurbed facilities

Completed: Autumn 2017
Cost: £6.5 million

We’ve invested £6.5 million on improvements to our Millennium Point facilities, including new specialist labs, and a project space with makers’ area, to ensure our students have the best possible environment for practice-based learning.

7) Teaching wing for health and social care students

City South teaching wing

Completed: Autumn 2011
Cost: £2 million

Our new teaching wing allowed all our health and social care students call City South Campus their home. This was the latest addition to a previous £30 million refurbishment of the Seacole Building which opened in 2006. Our health students can take advantage of state of the art facilities including a simulated operating theatre and hospital wards, a fully-equipped birthing room, a simulated home environment and a fully-functional radiography suite and 3D imaging diagnostic suite.

8) Multi-million pound sports centre

Doug Ellis Sports Centre

Completed: 2010
Cost: £8.5 million

Our Doug Ellis Sports Centre, which is located close to our City North Campus, boasts an 80-station fitness suite, an eight-court sports hall, and workout and spinning studios.The centre also offers plenty of room for team sports including five-a-side football and cricket as well as an all-weather pitch.