Find out about our West Slope development – one of our largest and most ambitious building projects.
Overview
What is West Slope: West Slope is a construction project to enhance campus facilities.
Why it’s better for you: West Slope aims to deliver better facilities for our students and staff, and more on-campus accommodation means more of our students can live here beyond their first year.
Why it’s better for the University: Better campus facilities will help make us more competitive and provide the facilities expected of a world-leading University.
When it’s happening: Planning permission was secured in 2020 and work to deliver West Slope started in 2022. The project will complete in 2028.
How it will launch: West Slope buildings will be phased into use between 2026 and 2028.
Our vision
The West Slope development is one of the largest and most ambitious building projects Sussex has seen for many years.
We are making campus better by:
- using space more effectively
- designing access for all into our buildings and landscape
- enhancing the student experience here at Sussex.
Creating a better campus
The West Slope development will:
- add 1899 student bedrooms on campus by replacing outdated accommodation
- make campus more accessible for everyone
- improve the campus experience with a new supermarket and café
- prioritise student welfare in our new Health and Wellbeing Centre.
Find out more about West Slope and the facilities it will deliver.
Our aims
We aim to:
Enhance the student residential experience
We want to support as many students as possible to live on campus in their first year and beyond. The cost of living is at an all-time high across the UK, and the city of Brighton & Hove is experiencing high demand for housing.
Adding new accommodation will mean the University can boast over 6,000 bedspaces on campus. In turn, this will allow more students to benefit from all-inclusive rents and term-time contracts, whilst also helping to relieve pressure on local housing.
Deliver value
Building new residences, rather than refurbishing outdated buildings, delivered the best value for money for the University, both in the quality of accommodation and the increased volume of rooms. Partnering with Balfour Beatty to build and finance our development presented the opportunity to go beyond the build of new residences and also deliver a new Health and Wellbeing Centre, a supermarket, and a café.
Grow our community
We want to attract the best and the brightest minds to Sussex – our facilities and campus experience play a significant role in making Sussex an attractive option to students.
Prioritise wellbeing
The Health and Wellbeing Centre will become the central home of University wellbeing services. From wellbeing advice, to support, to therapeutic services, wellbeing teams will have dedicated space to meet and support students.
NHS GP services will also be on offer in the Health and Wellbeing Centre, benefitting local community patients in addition to the student community.
In locating NHS GP services alongside University wellbeing services, we hope to grow and improve student support, ensuring students can access the support they need to thrive throughout their studies at Sussex.
Make learning more accessible
We want everyone to have access to the same facilities and experiences when they join us at Sussex.
Many of our buildings are historically challenging to access and West Slope has created an opportunity to build with access as a priority.
In addition to offering accessible rooms, step-free routes will have gentle gradients and internal and external lifts and bridges will connect different spaces offering a more universal experience to our students.
How we will deliver West Slope
There are three stages in our programme to deliver West Slope. We are currently in stage two.
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Preparing campus
Between 2022 and 2024, we undertook extensive work to upgrade and futureproof our utilities and services across campus, ensuring campus infrastructure can support our new and existing buildings.
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Building West Slope
The main build phase of West Slope will see the construction of buildings and infrastructure. Construction started in 2024 and will be ongoing until 2028.
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Completing West Slope
When construction is complete, a building will transition into its final delivery phase of decoration, furnishing and opening. Over the construction period, buildings will be phased into use so that we can start to benefit from the enhanced facilities that West Slope will deliver at the earliest opportunity.
