U+I has completed a deal with Brighton & Hove City Council to deliver the £300m mixed-use regeneration of Preston Barracks.
The project will deliver 369 homes, 534 student bedrooms in partnership with Scape Student Living, and a 50,000 sq ft innovation hub for start-up businesses and entrepreneurs.
Preston Barracks is a brownfield site which has been derelict for more than 20 years and forms part of the wider regeneration partnership with the University of Brighton which aims to transform the area into a “live, work and learn” destination.
The innovation hub, which is expected to attract enterprising and high-growth companies and increase international investment into Brighton and Hove, has attracted £7.7m of grant funding from Coast to Capital Local Enterprise Partnership. U+I has already set up an innovation hub, the Central Research Laboratory, at the Old Vinyl Factory regeneration scheme in Hayes, west London.
Richard Upton, deputy chief executive of U+I, said: “Our goal is to transform this run-down area of Brighton and deliver a stunning and exciting new place that befits the inspirational city of Brighton & Hove. We are now on site delivering one of the most significant regeneration projects in the history of the city – a great example of what effective public private partnership can deliver.”
The project will include new public streets and squares, landscaping including fruit trees and vegetable growing areas and a 1km fitness route with outdoor play space and exercise equipment. Improved transport links between neighbouring residential areas and the train station will help make this new and dynamic area an integral part of the city.
Demolition of the buildings on the army barracks is almost complete and building works are due to begin imminently. University of Brighton students have designed hoardings, which will be revealed soon around the site. The whole regeneration, designed by Studio Egret West and TP Bennett, is expected to be completed by 2021.
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