Financial close has been reached on a deal to build a £530m student accommodation campus at the University of Manchester, set to be the biggest Passivhaus-certified student scheme in the world.
Contractor Graham will build the new Fallowfield campus with 3,300 rooms and shared amenities by 2030.
Investors say the residences will be net-zero carbon in operation, using around half the energy conventional new-build student accommodation uses.
Net-zero will be achieved through a fabric-first approach, passive design measures, heat recovery, photovoltaic panels and air source heat pumps.
Graham will look to cut embodied carbon through low-carbon concrete, efficient structural design, simplified finishes and off-site manufacture.
The scheme targets a biodiversity net gain of 11.7% through new planted habitats, orchards, biosolar roofs that combine plants and solar panels, bird and bat boxes, plus hibernaculum ground arrangements such as log piles that give species places to hibernate.
First 1,000 rooms in 2028
The accommodation will be arranged in five neighbourhoods, offering a mix of standard, premium and accessible rooms. Plentiful daylight, good air quality, calming acoustics and protection against overheating will add to students’ wellbeing.
Investors expect the scheme to generate £250m in social return on investment through jobs, apprenticeships, local supply chain spend, skills, work experience and funded student activities.
The first 1,000 rooms are due to open in 2028. More rooms and the central hub facilities will be completed in 2029. All rooms are scheduled to be available in 2030.
“Britain needs to get back into the business of investing in its own future, and we are supporting the building, investing and innovating that makes that happen,” said UK pensions minister Torsten Bell.
“This significant commitment to sustainable student housing in Manchester shows how institutional investment can achieve that while delivering strong long-term outcomes for savers.”
‘Most sustainable in the world’
Commenting on the financial close, Barra Mac Ruairí, the university’s chief property officer, said: “We are very pleased that, by working in true partnership, we looked for innovative solutions to opportunities and the inevitable challenges which working at such scale presents. Getting to this milestone was a tremendous endeavour.”
He said the Fallowfield residences would be “among the most sustainable in the world” and were designed to deliver “an outstanding student experience”.
Graham Investment Projects’s strategic development director Neil McFarlane said: “Projects of this scale can only be delivered through strong collaboration between the public and private sectors, and reaching financial close is a major milestone that enables us to move into delivery.
“Significantly, Fallowfield is the largest Passivhaus student accommodation project in the world as well as being the largest pre-cast MMC-centred development in the UK, setting a new benchmark for sustainable development.”
