WITH work under way on the £5.9 million development at Wiltshire College & University Centre’s Trowbridge campus, we’re already excited about the improvements it will bring.
The expansion includes a £4.3 million School for Digital and Creative Art, featuring a 385sqm open plan art studio with IT and media suites, as well as a state-of-the-art audiovisual studio. Trowbridge Head of Faculty of Technical & Industry Focused Education Owain Milford believes it will set a new benchmark in further education.
“Nowhere will have the space and design that we will have,” he said. “I think we’ll be leading the South West, if not further afield, with provision that will be seen as the gold standard.”
The project also features a £1.6 million Construction Skills Centre that will almost double the size of the present teaching space. It will all be complete in time for next September.
Read more about the full Trowbridge redevelopment here.
More space, more opportunities
Building begins in earnest over the next few weeks, converting an unused building and constructing a mezzanine floor with purpose-designed, flexible studios that can be adapted to provide intimate spaces that allow students to focus on their work or bring whole courses together to collaborate.
“I think our students are really going to benefit because they will be better prepared for their next steps,” said Owain. “That transition for our students from here into higher education or industry will be smaller because they’ll be more used to working in those spaces, with the relevant technology and processes.
“By having the extra space we grant more opportunities, so I think that’s probably going to be the big impact. It will allow us to engage in more modern teaching practices and experiential learning opportunities.”
Designed with students in mind
Not only will the extra space provide an ideal home for the popular end of year exhibition, it will push the boundaries of what students can achieve. “We’ll have a nice high ceiling and, if we’re able to hang pieces in a different way, it completely changes what the students can create and how they can show their work,” said Owain.
Lecturers will have their own area next to the art studio with easily accessible tutorial rooms to discuss ideas. “The students will also be next to the Learning Resource Centre which they use a lot for researching artists’ works, and they’re next to the Tech Trowbridge arena for art history lectures and guest speakers,” said Owain. “So they’ll have this creative space next to all the resources they need.”
Every detail of the new studios is centred on making learning better for the students. “Even with the lighting, we’ll be having high range artificial lights that mirror natural lighting, which are as close as we can get to a high end gallery,” said Owain. “It just improves the students’ ability to see their work, how it should be seen.”
Bringing creative courses together
The new building will house all of the campus’ creative courses. “On top of that, as we’re moving our print facilities, photography students and photography suites, we get to upgrade all of those,” said Owain. “It allows us to bring all of our media and computing provision together in the way we’ve always envisioned it being under Tech Trowbridge.
“All of the classrooms will match the spec of Tech Trowbridge for our media students, so it just raises the quality of everything.”
The move is partly being driven by demand, with an unprecedented number of students applying to study the College’s creative subjects at Trowbridge. “Our Foundation Arts course is nationally renowned but there has always been only so many students we can have,” said Owain. “This expansion will allow us to increase our capacity by at least 25 per cent.”
It is not lost on him that the expansion comes as the Foundation Arts course celebrates its 50th anniversary. “It’s a really exciting time for all of us because we’ve just celebrated those 50 years and now we’re saying ‘let’s do the next 50 years even bigger’,” he said. “We’re working with the architects and the builders to create a fantastic new facility and I’m looking forward to seeing the students walk in there and being really wowed by it.”
Want to find out more about the exciting developments at Trowbridge?
The expansion plans will be on display at the College’s Open Event on Saturday 7 November, where visitors can also explore the campus, meet lecturers and discover the courses on offer.
