Unfortunately, due to construction delays during the Garrod Building refurbishment works, the full opening of the Garrod Building and our new Students' Union & BLSA spaces has been slightly delayed. Despite the best efforts of the project team some of these issues were only able to identified once the initial stripping out of the building took place, this included the need to remove asbestos from areas of the building, and to rectify legacy maintenance issues that will ensure the longevity of the building and new spaces.
We have worked with the university projet team and contractors to minimise the disruption and to protect your educational experience at the start of term. For example, the completion of key teaching spaces has been prioritised - these are due to open at the end of September. The Old Library which will be one of our new student social and study spaces, plus an event space for student groups, will follow shortly after.
The prioritisation of these spaces however does mean that the Griff and other BLSA facilities in the Garrod Building, such as the Recovery Rooms, Multi-Faith Centre and BLSA Offices and meeting rooms has been delayed, with these spaces now due to open in November. We know this will be disappointing for many students, however we have worked with the university to delay the closure of our current facilities in the BLSA Building. These will now remain open for as long as we need our current spaces. Whilst we may not be looking our best as some works had already begun as we prepared to move out over summer, we felt it was vital to protect these important social, student group, faith and study spaces until our new home was ready, and have these available for you to use.
Our regular events programme is also continuing as planned, check out what's on here.
Arrangements for the current BLSA Building
The current BLSA Building will remain open, with a pop-up information point also operating from the former Reception & Shop on the ground floor.
Temporary Opening Times until further notice;
The Griff Inn
Monday to Friday: 10am to 6pm
BLSA Building, including Recovery Room, Games Room and Multi-Faith Rooms
Monday to Friday: 10am to 8pm
Pop-Up Information Point (until 2nd October)
Monday to Friday: 11am to 2pm // 5pm to 8pm
Pop-Up Information Point (from 2nd October)
Monday to Friday: 5pm to 8pm
Progress Photos from August 2023
Please see some progress photos from the current space. You can also view a video tour with BLSA President Amaan on the BLSA Instagram page.
Left: Garrod Building Foyer // Right: The Griff
Left: The Griff // Right: Recovery Room
Multi-Faith Centre Room 1