City College Brighton and Hove England : Architecture

27 Mar 2009 PLANNING GRANTED FOR CITY COLLEGE BRIGHTON AND HOVE A £100 million plan to provide a new ‘state of the art’ education campus for City College Brighton and Hove was approved Brighton and Hove City Council’s planning committee on 18 March. Ambitious plans for a major mixed use development of the current City College site at Pelham Street in the heart of the city will provide for over 16,500 square metres of education floorspace, a youth hostel, student accommodation, an employment enterprise centre, 70 homes, a health clinic and a new public urban space. The entire planning process, which has been managed by Broadway Malyan, involved the preparation of a complex 'hybrid' application comprising both an outline application scheme for the whole site and detailed planning for the main education campus building. The planning and design evolution of the scheme has been managed through a series of regular workshops with Brighton & Hove Council officers over the last year. This major project will be delivered in two phases, the construction of the new City College building plus the demolition of the existing Pelham Tower. A main podium will support upper tiers of educational floorspace that include landscaped outside terraces providing breathtaking views across the city. At ground level a podium ‘plaza’ will be accessible to the public and will new include a new ‘internal street’ of College ‘shops’ that will provide a range of vocational services where the local community can experience the buzz of College life, promoting a new interest in further education and skills learning across the city. The second phase will deliver a sustainable community to the heart of the city providing affordable homes and community uses as a replacement to the underused dated college buildings. This phase will also include an urban square wrapped by further college space, student accommodation and a youth hostel providing needed budget accommodation for visitors to the city. Securing planning consent for this major project in the city is a key stage in securing £60 million of Learning and Skills Council investment and cements Broadway Malyan's position in delivering major regeneration in Brighton & Hove. Albert Golding, Broadway Maylan’s Director of Regeneration stated: ‘We are delighted to have helped move this exciting regeneration and learning opportunity for Brighton and Hove forward. The success in achieving planning approval demonstrates the value of working in partnership working with Council officers over the last year on the scheme.’ Subject to securing LSC funding, it is expected that the new City College building will be open for learning at the start of the academic term in September 2011.