Ulster University Belfast Campus Building, President Joe Biden Northern Ireland News, Irish Architecture
Ulster University Belfast Campus, Northern Ireland
New Irish Education Building on York Street design by Feilden Clegg Bradley Studios (FCBS)
11 April 2023
Location: York Street, Cathedral Quarter, Belfast, Northern Ireland
Design: Feilden Clegg Bradley Studios with McAdam Design
Joe Biden to deliver historic keynote address at Ulster University’s Belfast Campus by FCBStudios
The President of the United States, Joseph R. Biden Jr, will deliver his historic keynote address at Ulster University’s Belfast Campus on 12 April 2023 to mark the 25 anniversary of the Good Friday Agreement.
Photos by Donal McCann
Ulster University Belfast Campus Building, Northern Ireland
This new campus is one of the great success stories of peace in Northern Ireland and prompts the city to look forward to openness, and investment in people and growth.
Sam Tyler, Partner at FCBStudios said: “Feilden Clegg Bradley Studios’ design for Ulster University’s Belfast Campus delivers innovative education space for the 21 century and connects the heart of the city to the surrounding communities.
The 75,000 m2 campus is designed with publicly accessible lower floors to create a community asset and act as an engine for improving access to Higher Education. The buildings house four faculties, administration, high-tech labs, art studios, library, offices, catering and teaching space connected by a web of social learning environments. The sculptural architecture, clad in brick and glass, is inspired by the city’s industrial heritage and connects the occupants to the surrounding townscape, mountains and lough.
This grand civic building is designed to encourage connections between academics, students, industry, communities and Belfast’s spectacular natural setting.”
Cathedral Thinking: Ulster University’s Belfast Campus
• 16,000 students and staff relocated from the suburban campus to Belfast’s City Centre
• Vertical campus promotes social learning, collaboration, industry engagement and impact of Higher Education in the community
• Open campus signals confidence in Belfast on 25th anniversary of the Good Friday Agreement
• University development sparks regeneration of city’s Cathedral Quarter
Ulster University’s recently opened 75,000m2 addition to its Belfast Campus is changing the city’s cultural district for good.
The campus, designed by Feilden Clegg Bradley Studios, moves the University’s 1970’s suburban campus in Jordanstown to the city core. The 12-year project houses 16,000 students, faculty and staff in four faculties and departments.
Three new interconnected buildings, delivered across multiple phases, connect to the Belfast School of Art. This is large for any city, but in Belfast, it proposes a whole new relationship between the city’s educational institutions and the city itself.
This location is at the interface of Belfast’s neglected and still-divided communities, and in walking distance of the economic drivers in the city core and harbour.
‘This project puts the University in the heart of the intractable issues haunting Northern Ireland’s growth, prosperity and identity’ said Duncan Morrow, Lecturer and Community Outreach Director at the University. ‘Education remains a critical path to a better future. This campus, as it twists and turns in the city, is designed to make Higher Education accessible to all.’
This section of the city is eclectic. Historic radial routes intersect with tight lanes and oppressive eight lane road networks. Grand early 20th century buildings, sheds and terraces occupy the urban blocks. The assertively civic buildings of the University both nestle into historic fabric and challenge the presence of out scaled road networks.
A three storey ‘urban porch’ signals the main entrance on York Street and an openness to the city. Beyond this glazed threshold, a concourse runs the length of the main building connecting visitors and students to cafes, lecture theatres, exhibition spaces and entrances onto other streets and lanes. A grand stair, using the same stone as the main concourse, ascends past the library, student union and classrooms clad in glass, concrete, and painted wall panels. The stair turns back on itself and terminates at the base of an extraordinary surprise, a timber and glass clad atrium hangs above you. This is one of four atria that are like urban squares in plan, that aid in navigation, natural light and organisation.
With 14 occupied floors, the campus is vertical. Universities in New York City and large urban campuses across the UK and the continent provided the precedent to cement the project team together and synthesize the vision. Faculty and administrative offices are organised one above the other around receptions, meeting rooms, conventional and shared offices and the ever-present kitchenette. The large south facing façade looks out across the city and nearby hills.
Vertically stacked here is a huge investment in student hubs designed to bring the entire academic community together and create a 24 hour campus. A range of social, project and concentrated study spaces are designed to appeal to different needs and personalities. Equally, in a post Covid academic world, these spaces place a valuable emphasis on being in the room, on being face to face.
Belfast is an industrial city at heart and the red brick cladding provides continuity with this identity. The flush glazing and glazed ‘lanterns’ on prominent corners suggest a sculpturally inspired building. This strong architectural expression is also a sympathetic response to the existing cityscape. At the junction of the four buildings, a bridge soars overhead and reveals the reconnection of two lanes, disconnected in the 20th century when pedestrian permeability and connection to human scaled spaces was not a priority.
Pro-Vice Chancellor Professor Alastair Adair, reminds us that Ulster University is many things. ‘The project is firstly about education, research and collaboration; collaboration between academics, students, community, industry and government. Our research and educational agendas will continue to foster growth in Northern Ireland. The new building multiplies our impact as it takes its place in both in the city and in the region.’
These priorities are like those of many Universities across the UK and this may point to a Northern Ireland, that in spite of unresolved social divisions, is finding a space that points definitively forward.
Ulster University Belfast Campus
In Brief
Ulster University’s Belfast campus, designed by Feilden Clegg Bradley Studios, moves the University’s 1970’s suburban campus in Jordanstown to the city core. The 12-year project houses 16,000 students, faculty and staff, four faculties and departments. Three new interconnected buildings and a bridge, delivered across multiple phases, connect the University to its existing building that houses the Schools of Art and Architecture. This is large for any city. Here, it proposes a whole new relationship between the city’s educational institutions and the city itself.
This new 75,000 m2 addition to the Belfast City Centre Campus, within the city’s cultural district, is at the interface of Belfast’s neglected and still-divided communities, and in walking distance of the economic drivers in the city core and harbour.
The campus is assertively civic. It nestles into the historic fabric, its three storey ‘urban porch’ signalling an openness to the city. Beyond this glazed threshold, a concourse runs the length of the main building, connecting visitors to cafes, lecture theatres, exhibition spaces and entrances onto other streets and lanes. A grand stair ascends past the library, student unions and classrooms, turning back on itself to terminate in a timber and glass clad atrium. There are four such atria, almost urban squares in plan, that aid navigation, natural light and organisation.
Ulster University Belfast Campus – Building Information
Project Data
Phase 1 – Block BB – Art and Architecture School – completed 2015
Phase 2
Design Stage
Lead Architect: Feilden Clegg Bradley Studios
Local Architect Partner: McAdam Design
Civil & Structural Engineer: Mott MacDonald
M&E Engineer: Mott MacDonald
Landscape Architect: Grant Associates
Planning Consultant: Juno Planning
Project Manager: Currie & Brown/WH Stephens
Cost Manager: E C Harris
CDM Coordinator: Faithful and Gould
Acoustic Engineer: Sandy Brown Associates
Fire Engineer: Jensen Hughes (formerly JGA Fire)
BREEAM Assessor: Arup
Inclusive Access Consultants: David Bonnett Associates
CONSTRUCTION STAGE
Compliance Monitoring Team
Lead Architect: Feilden Clegg Bradley Studios
Local Architect Partner: McAdam Design
Civil & Structural Engineer: Tetratech (formerly WYG) ; Mott MacDonald (Part)
M&E Engineer Tetratech (formerly WYG) ; Mott MacDonald (Part)
Façade Consultant: Montresor Partnership
Landscape Architect: Grant Associates
Planning Consultant: Juno Planning
Transport Consultant: Atkins
Project Manager: Currie & Brown/WH Stephens
Cost Manager: WH Stephens
Principal Designer: Watts Group Ltd / Faithful and Gould
Acoustic Engineer: Sandy Brown Associates
Fire Engineer: Jensen Hughes (formerly JGA Fire)
Vibration Consultant: Xi Engineering
Inclusive Access Consultants: David Bonnett Associates
BREEAM Assessor: Arup
Design and Build Contractor Team
Main Contractor: Sacyr Somague / Lagan Somague JV
Architect: Scott Tallon Walker / White Ink Architects
C&S Engineer: RPS
M&E Engineer: Promec /RPS M&E (Part)
Façade Consultant: Murphy Facades
Landscape Architect: The Paul Hogarth Company
Acoustic Engineer: Sandy Brown Associates
Fire Engineer: Jensen Hughes (formerly JGA Fire)
Vibration Consultant: Design ID
Start on Site: March 2015
Completion: September 2022
GIA: 72,400 m2 + 5,700 refurbishment
All photos by Donal McCann
Ulster University Belfast Campus Building News images / information from Feilden Clegg Bradley Studios – FCBS
Previously on e-architect:
13 Mar 2013
University of Ulster Belfast City Campus
Design: Feilden Clegg Bradley Studios
Location: York Street, Cathedral Quarter, Belfast, Northern Ireland
Feilden Clegg Bradley Studios’ planning application for the University of Ulster’s Belfast city campus has been approved
image from architect
Belfast City Campus University of Ulster
image from architect practice
Location: York Street, Cathedral Quarter, Belfast, Northern Ireland, United Kingdom
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Website: Ulster University Belfast Campus