Campus Masterplan

We plan to fully utilise the green spaces in and around the campus, particularly Peel Park, David Lewis Playing Fields and The Meadows. The Masterplan will look for opportunities for new green spaces in our urban environment to help promote learning, wellbeing and healthy lifestyles. Green initiatives like planting an extra 1000 trees along the A6 and around campus and introducing a network of 'rain gardens' to capture and redistribute surface run-off will also be put into place.    

Our goal is to achieve an Ecocampus Platinum award; this would recognise us a higher education establishment which focuses on addressing key issues of environmental sustainability.    

Central to the plans is an energy strategy that takes a major step towards a zero carbon future, while providing high quality spaces for residential, teaching, research and commercial uses that are cost-effective to run. University of Salford buildings will undergo refurbishment to make them highly energy efficient, with maximum potential for renewable energy generation.

Working in line with our transformational One Digital Campus programme, we are motivated to grow our digital capabilities. There’ll be a shift in focus towards a virtual learning environment, and a wider use of  online delivery methods. We aim to embrace digital technology, in particularly virtual, immersive and augmented reality and this will be reflected in the types of research and teaching space we need on campus.

With the ambition for Salford to become a truly smart district that meets the needs of a community of the digital age, Salford Business School will transform to become an innovative Digital Commons Building, providing a focus for digital exploration, research and learning in a student-centred environment.

Our industry-focussed strategy offers a real-world approach to learning with a flexible, industry-informed and research-based curriculum. As such, our buildings need to have collaboration and leading industry technology  at their forefront. One of the first new buildings to be completed on campus will be the new School of Computing Science and Engineering, which will provide new state-of-the-art collaborative workshop and laboratory space at the heart of our campus. The relocation of the School will allow the  demolition of the Newton Building and for a new cluster of buildings, including a new School of the Built Environment.

Our current Frederick Road campus will have a new identity as a Biomedical Health Village; a pedestrian-friendly space with high quality new developments for health, sports science and wellbeing. The Masterplan proposes to retain, enhance and integrate a number of existing buildings on the site,  while removing older buildings, such as the Allerton Annex, to make way for new developments and an enhanced public realm.

The future vision proposes the transformation of the University as seen from the A6, with a new Civic and Cultural gateway. Salford is proud of its local distinctiveness and the Masterplan builds on this. Working closely with Salford City Council, developers and arts organisations, we plan to expand and develop our cultural offering. The area will be turned into a key cultural destination through a more diverse offering which could incorporate cafés, restaurants, galleries, an events and conferencing space and even a hotel.

Maxwell Hall will be retained as an events venue but will undergo a significant transformation to provide a new public events and conference space. A revitalised Maxwell building is also envisaged, with a new dynamic and interactive façade which will link the building with the park.

The Masterplan is keen to make positive changes to the transport connections and infrastructure here at Salford. The traffic calming work to the A6 will continue, with further improvements to bus and rail services. The ambition is to consolidate and rationalise car-parking across campus and to reduce internal car circulation to promote a healthier, more pedestrian-friendly campus. The vision also promotes greater levels of cycling in and around the site.

Improved pedestrian connections will be key to improving permeability across the campus – think tree-lined boulevards, public squares and a generally more well-defined network of routes and open spaces. Car parking will also be greatly improved, with our current spaces consolidated to make room for two new multi-storey car parks at Irwell Place and Frederick Road.

The potential for a new ‘Crescent Station Hub’, bridging the Peel Park Campus and the Frederick Road Biomedical Health Village will also be established providing an opportunity to link rail, bus and cycle facilities, in turn greatly improving the east-west connection for the University. A newly created public space, on the site of the existing Newton Building, will also create a new heart for the campus. It will provide easy access to the New Adelphi, Lady Hale, Cockcroft, School of Built Environment and Salford Business School. A new food and beverage offer as well as other commercial space will further add to the vibrancy of this new space.