West Park Student Residences Project
New West Park Student Residences
Demolition of Clydesdale Court
Demolition of Clydesdale
Birdseye view of bridge and courtyard
West Park Student Residences Project
The University is increasing student accommodation on Streatham Campus by building new and refurbished, student living facilities that provide an excellent on-campus living experience and reduces pressure on the University seeking third party accommodation providers in the city.
The West Park Student Residences project is creating new accommodation in the Clydesdale and Nash area and converting accommodation in the Birks Grange Village area from catered to self-catered.
This will include redeveloping the reception, catered dining halls and the Market Place Village Shop (Birks Grange Central Block) into further accommodation and amenity space including study, social and in-house commercial space. The catered Birks Grange blocks A-E will undergo a refurbishment and will provide modern self-catered accommodation once completed.
UPP has been appointed as the development partner to design, build, fund and operate the new accommodation.
Enhancing biodiversity and ecology in the area is an important aspect of the project. We are working with our development partners UPP to retain much of the mature woodland, plant double the amount of hedgerow that is currently in the area and plant over 200 trees. The new planting will include a mix of seasonal species to enhance biodiversity, and wildlife habitats will be greatly improved, including the installation of bat, bird and hedgehog boxes, and wood and stone piles to provide further habitats.
The Reserved Matters Planning Application for the project (ref: 22/1746/RES) was approved by Exeter City Council at a planning committee meeting in June 2023. This follows the scheme being granted Outline Planning consent (ref: 20/1684/OUT) in September 2021. A Minor Material Amendment to the planning application was approved in May 2024 (24/0184/VOC), the details of the amendment are in the tab below.
We have made adjustments to the design of Birks Block (A-E) and a new planning application for this Block was approved by Exeter City Council’s (24/1534/FUL).
We are working closely with UPP and their contractors Bouygues UK to plan the works and to minimise disruption to colleagues, students and visitors where possible. Bouygues UK are part of the Considerate Constructors scheme, which ensures they have high standards in managing risks, protecting the environment and positive relationships with the local community. This project is registered with the Considerate Constructors scheme and monitored in accordance with the scheme's code of considerate practice.
Construction work has begun in the Clydesdale, Nash and Birks Grange Village area of Streatham Campus this summer 2025.
We expect students to move in to Phase One of the new accommodation by September 2027, and Phase Two by September 2028.
West Park Public Information Sessions
The University and UPP hold public information sessions for local residents to find out more the project.
Date for your diary: The next West Park Local Residents Information Session is scheduled to take place on Wednesday 6 May, from 17:30 to 19:00, at Reed Hall, Streatham Campus.
If you would like to be kept up to date on the project, please sign up to our mailing list.
Project update
Next steps
Construction work has begun in the West Park and Birks Grange Village area of Streatham Campus on the West Park Student Residences project
We are working closely with our partners UPP and the construction team Bouygues UK on the programme of works. We expect the work to take place as follows:
Winter to summer 2026: demolition, ground works and piling (drilling into the ground to form foundations) will take place. Unexploded Ordnance (UXO) surveys will continue throughout this activity.
Spring to summer 2026 (and beyond): pre-cast walls, structures and staircases will be delivered and installed on site to form the accommodation blocks.
We expect students to move in to Phase One (which includes Birks Central Block and Birks A-E, and two blocks on the West Park site) by September 2027, and Phase Two (the rest of the blocks on the West Park site) by September 2028.
On-street parking on Streatham Drive is currently closed to construct a new footpath. Some of the on-street car parking bays will reopen once the footpath is complete and some parking bays will remain closed to support safety in the area during the project. Traffic marshals and traffic lights are in the area to control the flow of traffic on Streatham Drive. Please follow the footpath diversion through the Reed Hall garden (this is an unlit route and only a suitable diversion during daylight hours).
Bouygues UK are considering options for contractor parking, including possibly creating a temporary contractor car park on the grassed area by Higher Hoopern Lane on our Streatham Campus. We will share more details soon.
Barriers and signage will be in place throughout the works. Please follow all health and safety signage in the area. Below is a map of the West Park development area.
If you have any questions about the project, please get in touch with the project team at WestPark@exeter.ac.uk
Construction lookahead
Below are details of the construction work taking place for the next two weeks:
Please note, the dates and information are updated regularly but are subject to change at short notice, due to weather conditions and working with external contractors.
The construction work is taking place during normal working hours, Monday to Friday from 8am to 6pm, and may also occur on the weekend as required.
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Details |
Noise levels |
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Wednesday 25 to Saturday 28 March |
Piling (drilling into the ground to form foundations) will begin in the site area in front of Mardon Hall and continue in the lower end of the West Park site. Groundworks will continue. This will create intermittent high cutting noise and ongoing medium noise. There will be an increase in large vehicles and deliveries to the site. Please take care whilst in the area and listen to the traffic marshals. An additional entrance road is being created within the West Park site area, in front of Mardon Hall and Holland Hall. This will involve an excavator and the laying of stone and tarmac for the next few weeks. The work will create medium noise. At Birks Grange Central Block, drainage and work to form the foundations of the building will take place. This is expected to cause medium to high noise and increased traffic in the area as concrete is delivered. There will be higher volumes of traffic movements around Birks Grange Village on Friday 27 March as concrete is delivered. Please take care in the area. Internal demolition will continue at Birks A-E Block. This will create intermittent medium to high noise as rubble is removed. The Streatham Drive footpath continues to be constructed and work will move to the Queens Drive area. There may be traffic lights and marshals in the area. The road will remain open. Please follow the footpath diversion through the Reed Hall garden (this is an unlit route and only a suitable diversion during daylight hours). |
Medium to High
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Monday 30 March to Thursday 2 April |
The works detailed in the previous week will continue. Service diversion work will be taking place outside Reed Mews between Wednesday 1 and Thursday 2 April. This may cause low levels of noise as the machinery pulls the cable through the service ducts. During this time, two car parking spaces in the Reed Mews car park will be temporarily closed. Pedestrian access will be maintained. To support essential service diversion work, the road outside of Birks Grange Village Block K will be closed to all vehicles from 7:30am on Monday 30 March for approximately 4 weeks. The work is expected to create intermittent medium to high levels of noise when the team dig into the road to create a large trench. During this time, there will be no vehicle access to Block K, except in an emergency, and the area will be enclosed with temporary fencing. The road access outside Blocks L, M, N, P and Q will remain open for all vehicles and provide access to Ross House Reception. Please be aware that any delivery vehicles will not have access beyond the road closure and you will need to collect any deliveries from that point in the road. Pedestrian access will be maintained throughout the road closure. Please follow footpath diversions, listen to directions from traffic marshals and take care in the area. In addition to these works, there will be a half-day period from 09:00 until 14:00 on Thursday 2 April where students living in Birks Grange Village Block K will be unable to run taps, shower or flush toilets, as drainage connections are made. We apologise for any inconvenience caused by this work. We have planned the work to take place in the spring break to minimise disruption where possible. There will be no working on the bank holidays. |
Medium to High
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Advanced notice: Tuesday 7 April onwards |
The installation of pre-cast structures will begin at Birks Grange Central Block from Tuesday 7 April. This will involve pre-cast walls, staircases and structural sections being delivered to site and installed to form the accommodation block. The sections will be lifted into position by crane. This method of construction has been chosen to minimise disruption for nearby residents, students and colleagues. There will be an increase in large deliveries as the pre-cast structures arrive on site. |
Medium to High
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We thank you for your patience and cooperation during the construction of the new student accommodation on campus.
Contact us
If you have any queries or questions about the project please email WestPark@exeter.ac.uk and we will get back to you.
If there are any urgent issues on site, please contact the site manager Amber Gratton-Davey on 07345479453.