Springfield Brewery will soon be ready to welcome students to Wolverhampton
An overgrown courtyard in the centre of the old Springfield Brewery site in Wolverhampton left deserted for the last 20 years will soon be alive with student classes and workshops.
The West Midland Construction University Technical College, one of three institutes working together to cover every aspect of the building trade, is emerging out of the ruins of the old brewery stables and will open in November.
The School of Architecture and the Built Environment forms the latest phase of the £100 million redevelopment by the University of Wolverhampton, with plans to preserve half the existing structure and fill the rest of the space with new-build.
Designed by architects at Birmingham-based Atkins, it will feature an atrium, open-plan design studios, laboratory, research and workshop space, lecture theatres, classrooms, offices and a café.
The historic brick façade on Grimstone Street and Cambridge Street will be retained, while old and new buildings will be linked by a glazed bridge.
When completed, it will provide space initially for almost 800 students and 50 staff, with student numbers expected to rise to more than 1,200.
Part of the grade II listed building bears the marks of a previous attempt to breathe new life into it when Taylor Wimpey started building around 140 homes in 2006 before the economic crash hit. Lead architect Helen Newman said she loved how the building had many stories to tell. "It's a dream building for students of architecture because it is a case study in itself," she said. "It has evolved over time and bears the marks of that."
The plans have just been put out to tender and work will get under way after a developer has been chosen.
The roof will have a 'strong, sculptured form' featuring three pyramid-shaped structures echoing the nearby clock tower, which will also be restored.
Ms Newman said: "There had to be a balance between old and new. It's a beautiful, really elegant facade, which will be kept, but it would have been wrong not to have a strong, modern design.
"It will be clearly seen from the railway line so it had to be a statement building It's going to look spectacular."
The Elite Centre for Manufacturing Skills and is set to open next August.
