Proposals tabled for £65m Blackpool Multiversity 

A rundown three-acre chunk of Talbot Gateway is to be flattened to make way for the 350,000 sq ft education facility aimed at upskilling the town’s population. 

Blackpool Council has submitted a planning application for the much-talked-about Multiversity project, which is being supported by nearly £50m of government funding. 

The council has said that the Multiversity would “act as a beacon to promote higher-level skills, engage employers in curriculum co-design and change perceptions of the town”.  

At present, there is a skills and productivity gap between Blackpool and the rest of the country – 28.8% of Blackpool residents hold an NVQ4+ qualification, compared to 43.5% in Great Britain, according to the bid.  

The Multiversity would seek to close this gap by upskilling residents, offering courses in automation, mobility, artificial intelligence, data, population ageing, and sustainability. 

The planning application has been submitted in hybrid form with full planning consent sought for the demolition of the existing buildings on the site. 

Outline consent is sought for the Multiversity buildings. The first phase would feature up to 221,000 sq ft (GIA) of education development. The second phase would see another 130,000 sq ft (GIA) of education or office space added. 

To learn more about the scheme, search for reference number 23/0830 on Blackpool Council’s planning portal. 

After more than a year of negotiations with landowners, the council announced last month it would have to use compulsory purchase powers to acquire the majority of the land needed to deliver the facility. 

The Multiversity would be leased by the council to Blackpool & Fylde College from April 2026.  

It is hoped that the facility will be in operation for the 2026/27 academic year, once the college has relocated from its existing Park Road Campus. 

The project team features architect Hawkins\Brown, structural engineer Civic Engineers, services engineer and sustainability consultant KJ Tait, project manager and cost consultant CBRE, fire engineer Hydrock, acoustician Hydrock, facade engineer Fortis, planning consultant Avison Young, and environmental consultant Egnio. 

The proposals form the latest phase of the wider regeneration of Talbot Gateway, a project that has already seen the delivery of a 120,000 sq ft office, a 60,000 sq ft Sainsbury’s, and a 600-space multi-storey car park.  

Construction of a 144-bedroom Holiday Inn is due to wrap up next spring, while the creation of a 200,000 sq ft hub for the Department for Work and Pensions is underway.