Living space in a learning environment

The original Reading Student Village – developed by Jarvis in partnership with the University – consists of three new buildings grouped around a beautifully landscaped central meadow and pond area. The complex was completed for the start of the new academic year in September 2000. Each of the three buildings consists of a number of six-bedroom, self-contained flats with communal kitchen/dining facilities.

As part of the initial £10 million capital project, Jarvis also refurbished an existing 18th century farmhouse on the site, which provides five more student rooms as well as accommodation for the senior academic resident and the site manager.

A model partnership
Speaking after the successful launch of the Student Village, the University’s Vice-Chancellor, Professor Roger Williams explained: “We had been taking a sound but traditional approach to our accommodation at Reading. However, the development of Reading Student Village, in partnership with Jarvis, means that we have now evolved a model of how the private and public sectors can work together effectively.”

The partnership model means that Jarvis and its funding partners – Barclays Bank and Barclays UK Infrastructure Fund – take all the demand and operational risks associated with the Reading Student Village. Jarvis owns and operates the site (through a special purpose company, UPP Reading Ltd) and the University reserves a set proportion of the rooms for first-year students. Jarvis is responsible for marketing the remaining rooms to continuing students and postgraduates. Day-to-day maintenance on site is contracted back to the University’s Estates Department.

Extending collaboration
The success of the Reading Student Village led to a second contract in 2003, to provide 429 rooms at the University’s St George’s Hall site. As well as refurbishing the Hall’s existing 184 rooms, Jarvis is providing an extra 245 new en-suite rooms for the start of the 2004/2005 academic year.

Patrick Hackett, the University’s Director of Facilities Management, underlined the importance of this second contract: “We are very pleased to be undertaking a second project with Jarvis, which will increase the University’s substantial residential portfolio and extend the type of accommodation offered to our students”. Even before the new development was completed, Reading University was able to offer university accommodation to over 50 per cent of its full-time students, more than double the national average.

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• Reading Student Village web page.
  
  Factfile
  
• Reading Student Village provides modern, comfortable en-suite accommodation for 389 students, with phone and Internet access in every room
• Six-bedroom self-contained flats with communal kitchen/dining facilities, supported by an on-site warden
• High standards of safety, with latest-generation fire protection and alarm systems
• Rooms at the Reading Student Village – which are rented out to visitors over the summer vacation – have earned a four-star rating from the English Tourism Council
• The new St George’s Hall development involves a £15 million investment from Jarvis and its funding partners, to deliver 184 refurbished and 245 new rooms