Blackpool approves Multiversity tweaks

A slight reduction in floorspace and height, as well as some material swaps, have been approved, nudging one of the town’s flagship projects forward.

Blackpool Council approved plans for the educational facility located next to Blackpool North station a year ago. However, earlier this week councillors were asked to give the greenlight to a raft of proposed changes that have occurred through the detailed design process.

These include facade changes such as using flat tiling as opposed to profiled, and removing feature fins from the design. The planned green roof has been scrapped and a storey has been removed from the element of the building fronting Grosvenor Street. The rest of the scheme remains five storeys tall.

The gross internal area of the building has been reduced slightly to 102,000 sq ft from 109,000 sq ft.

The changes are as the result of a “combination of an updated brief and evolving market conditions”, according to architect Hawkins\Brown.

“This has ensured the proposals remain deliverable while maintaining design quality and alignment with the original vision”, the architect added.

Phase two of the scheme could provide a further 130,000 sq ft of educational, office, or research space. Plans for this will come forward in due course.

The £65m Multiversity, which will be operated by Blackpool and The Fylde College. Morgan Sindall is set to build the project.

Once complete, it will offer more than 70 courses for higher education students. The facility’s USP is that the courses on offer are linked directly to local employment needs, smoothing the path to employment post-studies.

The project would also produce benefits for the local economy, with almost 3,000 students and staff expected to flood into the town centre.

Work to clear the site, following a successful CPO, is ongoing.

The project team features structural engineer Civic Engineers, services engineer and sustainability consultant KJ Tait, project manager and cost consultant CBRE, fire engineer Hydrock, acoustician Hydrock, façade engineer Fortis, planning consultant Avison Young, and environmental consultant Egnio. Re-form is the landscape architect.

To view the reserved matters application, use the planning reference number 25/0853 in Blackpool Council’s planning portal.

At the same meeting, plans for an 18,000 sq ft storage unit at Blackpool Airport were also approved.