£100m University of Staffordshire Student Village officially opens

The Staffordshire Signal was invited to the official opening of the University of Staffordshire’s new £100 million Student Village, where we were given a tour of the landmark development before students move in.

THE SIGNAL BRIEF

What’s new: The University of Staffordshire has officially opened its new £100 million Student Village in Stoke-on-Trent.

By the numbers: The development provides around 1,000 new and refurbished bedrooms, alongside study, social and wellbeing facilities.

Why it matters: It represents one of the largest individual investments in Stoke-on-Trent’s continuing regeneration and supported local employment, apprenticeships and work experience during construction.

The University of Staffordshire has officially opened its new Student Village, a £100 million development on the Leek Road campus that stands as one of the biggest single investments in Stoke-on-Trent's ongoing regeneration.

The Staffordshire Signal was invited to the official opening on Friday, where Chancellor Major Levison Wood joined Vice-Chancellor and Chief Executive Professor Philip Plowden and the scheme's delivery partners to cut the ribbon, just days before students begin moving in for the new academic year.

The Village provides around 1,000 new and refurbished bedrooms across a mix of cluster blocks and townhouses, linked to the main campus by a newly built pedestrian bridge. At its centre sits the Village Hub, a net zero building housing study space, social areas and wellbeing facilities under one roof.

The scheme was delivered through the Staffordshire Campus Living partnership between the University, HOCHTIEF PPP Solutions and Plenary, with construction carried out by Willmott Dixon and the accommodation to be operated by Pinnacle Group alongside the University.

Professor Plowden said the development marked "one of the most significant investments we have ever made in our students' experience", adding that it arrives a month after the University was named Modern University of the Year 2027 by the Daily Mail University Guide, an award that specifically cited the Student Village among its reasons.

Chancellor Levison Wood called the project "a symbol of ambition and investment in Stoke-on-Trent", while Ian Prescott of HOCHTIEF PPP Solutions and Paul Crowe of Plenary both pointed to the scale of collaboration behind getting the Village open in time for the new term.

Willmott Dixon's Midlands Construction Director, Dan Doyle, said building 1,000 bedrooms and a new Hub alongside a live campus had demanded close cooperation at every stage, and singled out two projects that had stuck with the workforce: students recreating the Village in Fortnite before it opened, and a mural painted on site by a University alumnus that changed how staff on the build talked about mental health.

During construction, Willmott Dixon committed to sourcing at least a quarter of its labour from within ten miles of the site and half from within thirty miles, alongside apprenticeships and work experience delivered with the Stoke-on-Trent and Staffordshire Careers Hub.

The Student Village joins a run of major regeneration projects reshaping the city, including the £60 million Goods Yard development, the £29 million railway station and gateway scheme funded by the Transforming Cities Fund, and the continuing redevelopment of the former Spode Works, a site The Staffordshire Signal has been following closely.

Students will have access to the Village around the clock, with controlled entry, on-site security and the SafeZone app.

More information on accommodation at the University of Staffordshire is available at staffs.ac.uk/accommodation.