The 5,550 m2 ‘all-electric’ building will accommodate some of the University’s most popular courses – including podiatry, prosthetics and orthotics, sports rehabilitation, occupational therapy, and sports science. Plans are also being explored for the delivery of mother and child health sessions, weight management clinics, and wellbeing support services. Forming part of the University’s School of Health and Society – its largest School, with over 8,400 students, the new building will, Kier says, ‘help to develop the next generation of healthcare professionals’, and increase access to health and wellbeing services for the public.
Prominently located on the A6 next to Salford Crescent train station, the new facility will target a BREEAM ‘Excellent’ rating and WELL Gold building standards.
Kier explained: “This project will be a showcase of Modern Methods of Construction, featuring a concrete façade system fabricated off site, and installed in a panelised arrangement which provides programme, safety, and sustainability benefits.” It will have an attractive roof space and terraces, a daylight-flooded atrium, and extensive indoor planting, ‘to enhance the sense of wellbeing and healthy living’.
The clinical spaces have been meticulously designed to meet the latest health building guidance, ensuring the new facility meets operational standards, is adaptable for a variety of uses, and can strengthen future collaboration with local health partners.
Supported by Kier’s in-house utilities team, the enabling works will include extensive underground services and drainage diversions to prepare the building site.
The site is a key part of the University’s multi-million-pound Campus Connectivity Plan, the biggest development of its teaching and research spaces around Peel Park in over a decade. The new building will also complement Salford City Council’s wider Crescent Salford development scheme.
As part of Kier’s ‘commitment to leaving a lasting legacy in the areas in which it operates’, the construction company says ‘a comprehensive programme of social value activity’ will be delivered in and around the area. This will include a proportion of the project value being procured through local SMEs and suppliers, with the potential for work placement and apprenticeship opportunities. Local schoolchildren and young people will benefit from a series of educational engagement events, with the opportunity to learn about careers in construction.
Work is now underway on site, and is expected to be completed in late 2026.
Sarah Morton, Regional director for Kier Construction North & Scotland, said: “We are thrilled to collaborate with the University of Salford on this significant project. With our extensive experience in the education, healthcare, and science and technology sectors, we are eager to leverage our expertise to create a cutting-edge facility that will serve the needs of students, staff, and the wider community, for many years to come.”
Professor Vicky Halliwell, Interim Dean at The School of Health and Society, said: “The new building will be one of the gems in the expanding University of Salford estate. It will house world-class facilities which will help us enrich learning, teaching, and research opportunities here in Salford, and enable us to support the health and wellbeing of our community too.”