Plenary achieves financial close on Staffordshire University Student Village

STAFFORDSHIRE, UK: Plenary has achieved financial close on its first UK project, the Staffordshire University Student Village.

Plenary is part of the Staffordshire Campus Living consortium contracted to finance, design, build and operate for 50 years a 1,013-room student village, including a central hub, in partnership with Staffordshire University at the university’s Stoke-on-Trent campus.

The project will see the delivery of student accommodation cluster blocks and townhouses, and a central village hub will act as a social space for students and feature events and wellbeing spaces, study areas and a rooftop terrace. The university’s existing Clarice Cliff Court accommodation, home to almost 300 students, will also be refurbished to ensure that all the university’s ensuite accommodation meets the same high standards.

The Staffordshire Campus Living consortium comprises

• Plenary as sponsor and investor
• Hochtief PPP Solutions UK and Ireland as sponsor and investor
• Willmott Dixon as head contractor
• Corstorphine and Wright as design and architecture lead
• Pinnacle Group as facilities manager and services contractor

Staffordshire University Vice-Chancellor and Chief Executive Professor Martin Jones said, “Providing an excellent student experience is a strategic priority and the Student Village is designed to respond to what students say they want. With the full backing of our Board of Governors, we are delighted to move closer towards making a start on this project which, alongside our academic course offering and exceptional support services, will help to make us stand out in the market. The new student accommodation will be linked to existing study, sports and leisure facilities on our main Leek Road site via a new pedestrian footbridge. Together with other exciting developments on the university’s doorstep like the Goods Yard and Station Road transformation improvements, we anticipate that the Student Village will be a great place for our students to live.”

Plenary Chief Investment Officer Paul Crowe said, “We are excited to be collaborating with the university and our other project partners on our first project in the UK and look forward to delivering this important university asset to provide quality student housing for decades.”

Hochtief PPP Solutions UK and Ireland Managing Director Ian Prescott said, “We are delighted to have been appointed for this prestigious project and are eagerly looking forward to working in partnership with the university and seeing the vision for the new Student Village realised.”

Willmott Dixon Director Dan Doyle said, “A large proportion of our work involves creating facilities to support the higher education sector, whether that’s for residential purposes or learnings – so we’re confident of the value that we can add here for Staffordshire University. There are many reasons to be excited by the plans in place and we’re driven by making the vision a reality, so that a safe, secure and inclusive environment will leave the students experiencing a true home from home.”

Corstorphine & Wright Architect Alan Yakoub said, “We are thrilled with the positive outcome and approval of our proposed design for an environmentally friendly student village. The design team has collaboratively managed to create an exciting, scenic, and accessible route connecting the new village with the existing campus. This aligns with the university’s goals to maintain accessibility throughout the entire campus.”

Construction of the new Student Village will begin shortly and is scheduled for completion in 2026.

It marks the first project win for Plenary in the UK since expanding into the UK in 2022.