Nottingham Trent University has announced that planning permission has been granted for a new Art and Design building on the corner of Shakespeare Street and North Sherwood Street.
The building will cost £35 million and is expected to be completed by Autumn 2023.
It will be the new home for the School of Art and Design, and bring in new technologies for film, animation, design, gaming, graphic design and illustration along with traditional design practice.
There will also be an exhibition space.
NTU says that the building will create more than 350 jobs, as well as over £1 million in student expenditure to the local economy.
The building is designed by award-winning architects Hawkins/Brown, and will create a signature presence on the University’s City Campus.
It will be nine storeys high.
The building will support NTU’s zero-carbon commitment and has been designed with the aim of achieving BREEAM ‘Excellent’ and DEC ‘A’ ratings.
The three townhouses that this building will replace were bought by NTU in 2018 and are currently empty.
Professor Edward Peck, Vice-Chancellor of Nottingham Trent University, said: “This building will enable the Nottingham School of Art and Design to become the leading art and design school in the UK, positioning us at the heart of one of the UK’s most innovative cities, creating the best talent in one of the fastest-growing sectors in the UK economy
“It will expand our contribution to the creative industries and be a major driver of innovation and technology and design, allowing us to be at the forefront of the creative industries and building upon our heritage of the past 175 years.”
Michael Marsden, Executive Dean of the Nottingham School of Art and Design added that: “This new building pushes the boundaries, not only through the architecture and technologies used to create it, but through the courses on offer, the opportunity for collaboration, and the graduates it will produce.”
The planning permission motion passed eight to six.
However, the building decision is has arisen controversy.
The Nottingham Civic Society and Historic England have both raised formal objections to the building, saying that the work would damage the character of the area and clash with Grade II listed buildings, such as the former Synagogue (now University Hall) and the former Registry Office on Shakespeare Street.
They also describe the plans as “intrusive”.
Lead image: Nottingham Trent University