Work starts to transform flagship HMRC offices into University of Nottingham campus

Work to create an "iconic" university campus on the site of a cluster of listed Nottingham buildings has officially started. The University of Nottingham says the Castle Meadow Campus will provide space for its business school and a site to showcase pioneering technology including AI and robotics.

The campus will officially open next year after the University of Nottingham purchased Castle Meadow from HMRC in 2021. HMRC had occupied the campus up until that point since its completion in 1994.

Seven buildings make up the campus and work has now begun to transform the Central Building. Facilities at the site will include a new restaurant and bar with external seating and a 'grab and go' coffee shop.

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Professor Jane Norman, provost and deputy vice-chancellor for the University of Nottingham, previously said: "Castle Meadow Campus will have its own buzzing identity, thanks to its city centre location, and will be a celebration of digital innovation and collaboration with local industry and community alike. We take our responsibility as custodian of this landmark site incredibly seriously and aim to deliver a bold vision for CMC, while still respective and honouring some of the city’s most iconic buildings."

Midlands contractor G F Tomlinson are working on the Central Building refurbishment, with work including the complex replacement of the tensile fabric roof and the addition of a new mezzanine at first floor level - offering views of the roof through a large, glazed roof light at its centre.

The Central Building work will take place over 20 weeks and the site is eventually set to open in the spring of 2025. Previous projects delivered by G F Tomlinson have included the redevelopment of Nottingham Castle.

Adrian Grocock, the managing director at GF Tomlinson, said: "We're pleased to be building on our long-standing working relationship with the University of Nottingham to bring this landmark Central Building at Castle Meadow Campus to fruition. The team has worked extensively to plan intricate works for the unique building and roof design, drawing upon our specialisms and expertise.

"The city centre campus is a shining example of how the city can retrofit existing buildings to create sustainable modern facilities, and the Central Building works will maximise the current building's potential to become a landmark social and commercial city hub."

The site, which was used by more than 1,000 HMRC before their move to the towering Unity Square offices nearby, is located near Nottingham Railway Station.

Called the Castle Meadow Campus, the 32,500 square-metre space will be used to educate thousands of post-graduate students and house both global and local businesses. All the vacant buildings, which were recently given Grade II listed status, will eventually be retrofitted in order to accommodate.

The university's business school, currently situated at the Jubilee Campus, will have the biggest footprint, with as many as 2,000 students set to move along with it in 2026. The iconic and quirky offices in Castle Meadows, designed by an internationally-acclaimed architect, were for many years the headquarters for Inland Revenue, which had moved almost 2,000 jobs out of London to Nottingham back in 1989. Previous plans had been put forward to convert the flagship offices into flats.