University of Southampton Opens the Doors to Mayflower Halls

The University of Southampton’s new Mayflower Halls was declared open today at a plaque unveiling by Southampton MP John Denham.

The new student accommodation comprises three residential blocks of up to 16 floors and will house 1,100 students. Situated next to the Mayflower Theatre, the new halls are a return to the heart of Southampton for the University, where it was first founded in 1862.

The build represents an £80m investment in the city and will include a convenience store and onsite gymnasium.

Student residents will be able to take a direct bus to attend lectures at the University’s various campuses, while enjoying the convenience of a city centre location, close to Southampton Central station.

It is hoped the new accommodation will help to ease pressure on Southampton’s private housing stock.

The opening was attended by councillors, University staff and the site’s developers, respected contractors, Osborne.

The University already has places for 4,760 students in halls across different areas of Southampton, as well as a further 500 places in Winchester for students at the Winchester School of Arts.

The new halls will increase capacity for first-year undergraduates, as well as accommodating some students in subsequent years of study. It will also make rooms available for a number of first-year postgraduate students.

The University of Southampton’s Vice-Chancellor Professor Don Nutbeam said: “This impressive new building is the largest halls complex to be built in the city of Southampton in over a decade. The University started not far from here but has today grown to be a world-leading centre for research and an institution of some 23,000 students.”

Andrew Osborne, Chairman of Osborne Developments, added: “Osborne are very proud of what we has been achieved at Mayflower Halls.  It will be a wonderful place to live for students, with comfortable, secure rooms in a readymade community and all the city has to offer on the doorstep. In the competitive global higher education market it will be another fine building to help attract the best students to the University.”

Mayflower Halls is a partnership project between Osborne, Legal and General, Terrace Hill and the University of Southampton.