A new student accommodation block is on track to open later this year, according to its developer.
Unite Students is building 431-bed halls on the former hospital site along Marlborough Street, with facilities including a cinema, karaoke room and private gym. The old Bristol Royal Infirmary (BRI) site will be renamed Campbell House, in tribute to campaigner Princess Campbell, who was one of the city's first Black hospital ward sisters and helped to lead the city's fight against racial discrimination.
A spokesperson for Unite has now said: "We remain on track to open for the start of the academic year this September."
Read more: Unite Students' new halls near Bristol Royal Infirmary will be named after nurse
The £45m development will become Unite’s 15th property in the city. Matthew Loughlin, group development director at Unite Students, has previously said: “Once complete, Campbell House will be the jewel in the crown of our properties in Bristol.
"The mixed-use development will create unique space, sensitively combining new with old, in a prime city centre location. We hope it will become a real asset for both the city of Bristol more widely, and for the local community.”
Planning permission was granted in February 2020, but work was paused during the early months of the pandemic. The new site is situated in the heart of Bristol city centre, which is within walking distance of the University of Bristol campus and close to the city’s main hospital, bus station, and central shopping area.
Part of the old BRI hospital, including the Georgian frontage, will be maintained and converted into 62 residential apartments, of which 20 per cent will be reserved for essential workers at a discounted price.
A small chapel on the site, known as Fripps Chapel, will be refurbished and repurposed for community use. The other buildings on site have been demolished, and a new student apartment block is being built in their place.
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