Completed in under two years, Park View Student Village has been officially opened by Newcastle University Vice-Chancellor and President, Professor Chris Day. The opening ceremony was attended by University staff, teams from the principal contractor, Galliford Try plc, and members of the public. 

Paul Bandeen, Director of Accommodation Services at Newcastle University, said: “We were very excited to see Park View Student Village open its doors and welcome our students to this high-quality facility, designed to meet their needs and expectations.

“This has been a major project for Newcastle University and I’d like to thank everyone who has helped to bring a top-class living environment to all of our students. I think everybody involved should be very proud of what has been achieved.”

Professor Chris Day, Vice-Chancellor and President, added: “Access to high quality accommodation is an important part of student life and a significant factor in defining students’ university experience. As a University, we have a long-standing commitment to delivering an outstanding experience for our students, not only through the excellence of our teaching and learning provision, but also by providing facilities of the highest possible standard, and that includes safe, affordable, comfortable living accommodation.

“We recognise that students making the transition to University require support and guidance, so our Accommodation Services team are implementing a Residences Life programme that’s designed to educate and support students while they are living in our accommodation. This means we can ensure they develop the skills they will need to enable them to move on to living within the wider community when they leave University accommodation.

“I’m pleased to say that our students already consistently rate the standard of their accommodation very highly, and I feel sure that with the addition of Park View Student Village to our portfolio, our standing can only improve.”

Newcastle University’s largest capital project

Replacing the 1970s buildings in Richardson Road, the £75m Park View Student Village is Newcastle University’s largest capital project. Almost 800 modules have been assembled together to create the halls of residence, making the biggest project using pre-fabricated units in the UK.

Cliff Wheatley, Managing Director of Galliford Try North East and Yorkshire, said: “Park View student village has been an outstanding project to be a part of. The team has pushed the envelope in terms of the technical excellence and response to the challenges presented by such a significant build process and I congratulate them for that. I genuinely believe that we have produced a high-quality development that provides a fantastic place to live for the students of Newcastle University for years to come.”

The six accommodation blocks are named after local rivers: Alwin, Breamish, Derwent, Irthing, Pont and Rede.

Park View Student Village provides 1,261 self-catered en-suite bedrooms in four, six, seven and eight-bedroom flats, as well as 16 single studios across six residential blocks.

As part of the redevelopment, Newcastle University worked with charities to donate 6,500 out of the 10,000 items of furniture from the Richardson Road site - students have been involved in the planning and design project.

Prior to building works, an ecology survey was carried out where it was found that the site was an active area for bats. Two bat houses with solar panels were built for the bats to encourage the animals to stay on the site.

Only weeks after opening its doors, Park View Student Village has started winning industry awards. The accommodation site won the Most Innovative Project of the year and was recognised with a Special Commendation in the Large Project Category at the Northern Counties Institution of Structural Engineers Award.

Park View Student Village facts and figures

• Stacked together, the pods would measure 2,178 metresin height, which is approximately seven times the size of the Shard in London (310 metres)
• The pods total size is 37,000 square meters (that’s around 5.2 times the surface of St James’ Park)
• If put together end to end, the total length of all modules would be 12.2 metres (around 6 miles) in length
• This means we could lay them out from Richardson Road beyond Wallsend
• At the busiest period of the build there were 271 people on site in a single day
• The construction company was on site for a total of 110 weeks (up to intake), which equals 550 work days (work week) or 770 days including weekends and holidays
• The site has a dedicated common room and gaming lounge
• The gaming lounge features a custom designed wallpaper showing the Newcastle landscape as a retro video game
• Staff enjoy access to a modern, spacious staff break area

Image above: (from left) Victor Shu, General Manager, CMC; Professor Chris Day, VC and President; Paul Bennion, Managing Derector, CMC; Cliff Wheatley, Managing Director Galliford Try; Iain Garfield, Acting Director of Estates, Newcastle University; Paul Bandeen, Director of Accommodation Services at Newcastle University.