A £5.9 MILLION redevelopment at Wiltshire College & University Centre’s Trowbridge campus will create new state-of-the-art digital and creative art studios and almost double the size of its construction workshops.
The college says the huge expansion is needed to keep pace with demand from rising student numbers, as well as employers’ changing needs. Plans for the expansion, funded with the help of £4.8 million from the Department for Education (DfE) and college reserves, will be on show at Open Events in Trowbridge on 30 September and 7 November.
“This is a major investment for the Trowbridge campus, and we’re excited by what this new provision will bring for future students,” said Steve Campion, the College’s Deputy Principal Corporate Resources.
“This investment will allow us to meet the needs and aspirations of future students and enhance our teaching at Trowbridge, following recent investment at our Salisbury, Chippenham and Lackham campuses.”
Work is already under way and the new teaching centres are expected to be ready for the start of the 2027/28 academic year.
What will the new facilities look like?
The building project will see the construction of a mezzanine floor within an unused building alongside the Tech Trowbridge digital technology teaching hub, which itself was doubled in size last year to meet the demand for places there.
The new £4.3 million School for Digital and Creative Art will feature a 385sq m open plan art studio with IT and media suites and a state of the art audiovisual studio for creating and recording sound and video content.
It will be home to all of the campus’s creative art courses, with the move leaving the vacant space for the expansion of construction training.
The new £1.6 million Construction Skills Centre will feature an extra 540sq m of multi-skills workshops, training bays and electrical workshops, all linked to the existing construction building by a new shared entrance.
The college has seen a steady rise in student numbers at all its campuses, particularly at Trowbridge, and its close links with employers have helped it identify skills gaps in Wiltshire and the surrounding area.
“Ultimately, this expansion has been driven by increasing demand for construction and creative courses, as well as recognising the changing needs of employers,” said Steve.
The Trowbridge investment is part of an ongoing college-wide strategy to develop and extend its teaching capacity. “This construction expansion will support the skills needed to meet the challenge of significant local housebuilding in the area,” he said.
“Across the whole campus we will be helping more students gain the knowledge and skills they need to progress to higher education, apprenticeships and employment, while improving their overall student experience.”
Discover more
The expansion plans will be on show at the college’s Open Events in Trowbridge on 30 September and 7 November.
