Bupa to fund new wellness roof garden at University of Salford

Bupa will provide £100,000 to support activity in the wellbeing and community space at the top of the flagship new building, which is currently under construction and is due to open in early 2027. Thrive will be a new teaching and research hub for many of the University’s most popular healthcare courses, as well as accommodating health and wellbeing clinics which are open to the public. 

The Thrive roof garden will be an open-air sanctuary in the middle of the city where research will take place and wellness sessions will be organised for the benefit of community groups, university staff and students. 

Anna Russell, Bupa’s Director of ESG, Employee Experience and Bupa Foundation said: “We are delighted to partner with the University of Salford on the Thrive roof garden, an exciting initiative that brings together wellbeing, research and community engagement. The space will provide a unique opportunity to explore the benefits of green prescribing and other preventative, nature-based interventions that support healthier lives. Through partnerships like this, we are helping to create healthier cities and communities, and we look forward to seeing the positive impact the project will have for local people.”

A Research Fellow position will be funded by Bupa which will help evaluate the impact of nature in improving people’s mental and physical health. Using the roof garden as a ‘living lab’ the postholder will develop research relating to community health and green/social prescribing – in which lifestyle activities are offered to patients instead of medication. 

Vicky Halliwell, who is Pro Vice Chancellor (PVC) Dean in the Faculty of Health, Community and Life Sciences at the University of Salford said: “Here at Salford we already carry out world leading research into Acoustics as well as Energy Conservation from our award-winning Energy House 2.0. Now our Thrive Centre gives us the perfect backdrop for exploring the world of social prescribing. Our mission is to innovate to enrich lives, and the work we will be doing in Thrive will help us deliver on that promise.” 

Thrive will open in January 2027 and will be a teaching base for students studying everything from Nursing to Occupational Therapy and from Prosthetics & Orthotics to Sport & Exercise Science.  It is the flagship building at the centre of the University’s Campus Connectivity Plan, which will deliver extensive improvements to its campus around Salford Crescent and the A6.

Kier is building Salford’s Thrive Health and Wellbeing Centre which will occupy approximately 5500 square metres floorspace over three floors. The architects AHR consulted more than a hundred students, staff and members of the community in the design phase to deliver the unique project. It is one of the first buildings in the UK to use ‘trauma informed’ design throughout, which will make it welcoming and easy to navigate. 

The University is a partner in the wider Crescent Salford masterplan, along with Salford City Council and ECF.  The Crescent Salford regeneration is a key project within Greater Manchester’s Central Growth Cluster – one of the city region’s six Growth Locations, where investment is being targeted to turbocharge growth.