Wrexham Glyndwr University unveils £1 million investment for its Plas Coch and Regent Street campuses

Wrexham Glyndwr University has announced £1 million in further improvements to teaching spaces across its Wrexham campuses in the New Year

The latest set of improvements, which feature as part of the university’s ongoing Campus 2025 programme, will see work carried out on B Corridor in the main Plas Coch campus building and at the Regent Street campus in the heart of Wrexham town centre.

Works are due to start in spring 2021 as part of the £60m programme, which has already seen upgrades to learning and teaching spaces at Glyndwr’s campuses in Wrexham, Flintshire and St Asaph, continues.

The £1m investment includes £750,000 from the Higher Education Funding Council for Wales (HEFCW) for the ongoing refurbishment of B Corridor in the main Plas Coch building. This will include new, larger flexible teaching spaces and accessibility improvements at Regent Street as well as the creation of new specialist spaces on both campuses.

Dean of Faculty of Arts, Science and Technology, Alec Shepley said: “This is the first stage of some long-awaited investment into our School of Creative Arts at Regent Street.

“This campus is a fantastic heritage site and everyone loves its authentic ‘art school feel’.

“The refurbishment proposals will focus on accessibility and enhancing the student experience, including the arrival of students and visitors to our campus and the formation of key social learning spaces, as well as the creation of flexible spaces for students to learn, work and more.”

The proposed works include a new entrance lounge, a social learning space for students, a revamp of the shop, library and courtyard, a new café, the installation of a ramp to improve accessibility to the main building and a variety of new teaching spaces including a studio and a Maker LAB.

Alec added: “A Maker LAB is a purpose-built space for small to medium scale 3D prototyping and digital fabrication. It is equipped with an array of flexible computer controlled tools that cover several different scales and various materials – with the aim that users can make ‘almost anything.’

“This includes technology-enabled products, generally perceived as limited to mass production – which will be at the heart of our new BA Product Design course – as well as future design products, up-cycling and re-imagining second-life materials in new products.”

Wrexham Glyndwr University’s £60m Campus 2025 programme is part-way through, with £18.5m having been spent to date, including investment at Colliers Park, the acquisition of Wrexham Student Village, the creation of new social learning spaces at the Plas Coch campus and refurbishment of the main reception, the creation of teaching space for the first time at the OpTIC Technology Centre campus in St Asaph, and new veterinary nursing facilities at Northop – as well as the sale of land on Crispin Lane to the Welsh Government as part of the Wrexham Gateway Partnership plans.

Wrexham Glyndwr University Vice-Chancellor, Maria Hinfelaar said: “We’re not only investing in our campuses but in the wider regeneration of Wrexham town centre too. We’re a key partner in the Wrexham Gateway Partnership project and our science discovery centre Xplore!, formerly Techniquest, have now moved into Wrexham town centre.

“It’s a very exciting time for Wrexham – especially as we have new neighbours in the form of Ryan Reynolds and Rob McElhenney, whose investment in Wrexham AFC has captured headlines around the world – and, like them, we’re proud to be playing our part and investing to make Wrexham the destination of choice for students, employers and tourists.”