Mace completes £55m Bristol Business School project

The Bristol Business School (BBS) and Bristol Law School (BLS) at the University of the West of England (UWE Bristol) have now moved into a new state of the art educational building on UWE’s Frenchay campus.

Mace has acted as the cost consultant on the project since being appointed in 2013. 

The building is the jewel in the crown of a significant £300m capital investment programme across all campuses and will enable UWE Bristol to offer a new way forward in Business and Law Education to benefit students and businesses in the region.

Designed to foster formal and informal interaction between businesses, the new facility promises to bring many benefits to the regional economy. Features include two showcase law courts, a city trading room, a 300-seat lecture theatre, two lecture theatres, an incubator for Team Entrepreneurs, technology-enhanced and flexible learning spaces, IT suites, meeting facilities and parking for business, an external business engagement space, a central social space and a café.

Throughout the building there are flexible workspaces that staff, students and visitors can use. Key professional organisations will also have a base there, enabling barristers, accountants, small business owners and start-ups to mix with staff and students in the learning and social areas.

Bristol Business School recently achieved the prestigious European programme accreditation (EPAS), placing it in an elite and internationally recognised group of modern Business Schools.

Professor Steve West, President and Vice-Chancellor at UWE Bristol, said:  

“It is wonderful to see this flagship build fully occupied. But it’s not really about the building, it is about what will happen inside it. 

“At UWE Bristol we teach business differently. A UWE education goes beyond getting industry accreditation, important though this is. 

“We are harnessing relationships with thousands of businesses across the region, nationally and internationally helping us to shape our courses so that our students develop the skills that are needed to help the economy thrive.

“Mace’s cost consultancy team has worked tirelessly to ensure that as well as a fantastic finished building, we’ve received excellent value for money across the whole project life-cycle.” 

Stuart Wilkinson, regional director for Mace Cost Consultancy, said: 

“This was a great project to work on – it’s been clear from the outset that it would have a huge impact on what the Bristol Business School is able to offer to its students, staff and partners. We’ve built a really positive relationship with UWE and I look forward to working closely with them in the future. 

“For our economy to continue to grow sustainably, it’s vital that the UK is equipped to provide trainees with the appropriate skills. Projects like this will be a key part of delivering the Government’s proposed industrial strategy, and I’m very proud of the role that the team from Mace has played.”