The Union announces that £150,000 in investment from the College has been provided to transform the outside space around the Students’ Union building.
Today we can announce £150,000 in investment from the College to transform the outside space around the Students’ Union building.
Central to the project is making the space fully accessible to all our students, creating more room for activities, student groups and stallholders to enjoy throughout the day and night.
The plan is to have the surrounding space near the existing canopy levelled out, creating terraces with small steps in between them. Furthermore, a series of gentle ramps will be implemented around the area in order to ensure full wheelchair access from various entry points.
Lastly, there will be an additional canopy/stretch tent added in the vicinity of Tommy’s Kitchen. This is to provide more weather-proof space during the winter.
How will this add to your student experience?
By improving the outdoor space around the Students’ Union, this will significantly enhance the experience of our late night events, with the inclusion of stylish outdoor lighting, music and more space for any featured activities and/or acts. It will also enable us to increase the capacity for some of our late night events (i.e. Freshers’ Festival) so that fewer students miss out.
Alongside the improvements to our late night provision is the installation of additional power and data points within the space. This will allow more student groups and stallholders to use the space throughout the day for a whole range of activities.
Commenting on the announcement, Union President, Natasha Barrett said: “This is another vote of confidence by the College in the Students’ Union as a provider of high-quality student space on campus following the reconfiguration of the building in the summer of 2016.”
“I’m particularly excited by the prospect of seeing more student groups using the outside space while ensuring easier access to the Students’ Union for wheelchair users. This is a huge step forward for the Union.”
“And as any SU veteran will know, the outside area during nights out can get pretty packed, so I am really excited that we can provide a much more comfortable experience for students when enjoying a night out.”
Work is due to commence on Monday 17 July with a completion date set for early-September. The Union building will remain open for the duration of the works although routes into the building will be affected, these will be clearly signposted by the on-site contractors.
This exciting news follows other announcements on the upcoming opening of the new Union Shop located in the Emily Wilding Davison Building and the repurposing of Stumble Inn as a storage space for student groups. Working in partnership with the College, we have been able to significantly improve the physical resources available for use.
If you have any feedback or ideas you would like to forward to us regarding this project, please get in touch. You can reach us on Facebook, Twitter or via email.