Designed with input from the Students’ Union, staff and local stakeholders, the £21 million Campus Central project will see the refurbishment of the existing Atrium, creation of a three-storey new building, and a re-landscaped, traffic-free Queen’s Court.

The project will see a new entrance and central welcome area for the Andrew Miller Building, with retail, catering, events space and student support services facilities. It will also feature expanded and enhanced meeting and social learning and study space at the Atrium.

The Queen’s Court ground-floor level will provide the gateway to the Macrobert Arts Centre, student support services, meeting and multi-purpose learning spaces. The upper second-floor will house an interdisciplinary, collaborative research space and the Graduate School.

More than 3,000m2 of additional floor space will be created to meet the needs of the growing University community, as well as circa 2,500m2 of refurbished Atrium space. The development will improve connections between the loch-side entrance, residences, teaching zone, Students’ Union, Macrobert Arts Centre, Queen’s Court and Cottrell Building.

Stakeholder workshops and consultations with students, staff, and other users have taken place and will be ongoing to inform the development of the detailed design and layout.

Campus Central also encompasses changes to the transport flow in and around the campus, including the introduction of a new and improved transport hub, minor changes to car parking and new bus routes through the campus.

The works on these transportation changes will begin in mid-May and are expected to be completed in September 2018.

On completion of the main Campus Central building works, the Queen’s Court will be fully transformed into a pedestrianised zone, with the exception of access for emergency and service vehicles.

To facilitate long-term improvements to the University’s facilities, a pedestrian zone will be created in the Queen’s Court area, and will require some essential changes to traffic flow on campus. Buses will be re-routed to a new and improved transport hub providing bus travellers with close access to the Logie Entrance to Cottrell teaching space, Stirling Court Hotel and the University of Stirling INTO Building.

The planning application has already been approved by Stirling Council and it is intended that work on the transportation project will commence next month, and be completed and available for use in September 2018, in time for the new semester.

Professor Gerry McCormac, university principal and vice-chancellor, said: “The transformation of the centre of our campus is one of the University’s key ambitions to support the achievement of our strategic aims in learning, teaching and research.

“It will enable us to significantly enhance the Stirling student experience and to deliver facilities commensurate with our ambitions to be one of the top 25 universities in the UK.”

University of Stirling Students’ Union president, Astrid Smallenbroek, added: “The Students’ Union is excited by the University’s plans to transform the heart of the campus, to further enhance the student experience.

“We are working in partnership with the University on this project and particularly welcome further improvements to the University’s student support service facilities, and that Stirling students will benefit from new study and social learning spaces.”

Campus Central development is expected to begin in early 2019, and be completed around September 2020.