Palace Studios, Plymouth College of Art’s new dedicated building for Foundation Diploma in Art & Design students, is due to open August 2017 on Buckwell Street in the heart of Plymouth’s city centre, adjacent to the planned British Land-owned Bretonside multiplex and cinema redevelopment and on the same street as the college’s new Palace Court campus, which was shortlisted for Building of the Year Award last year by The Building Forum for Devon and Cornwall.
Students learning in Palace Studios, which are currently being refurbishedto creative art and design-standards, will work across different disciplines to identify their chosen specialism within the arts, preparing them for creative degree-level study at selective, competitive universities for the creative arts, and to enter the UK’s booming creative industries. The creative industries contribute over £80 billion per year to the UK economy and provide employment for over 1.8 million people.
Stratton Creber Commercial negotiated and secured the sale of the property to Plymouth College of Art, as well as advising on planning and title for the building. QSPM Consultants LLP are appointed as Cost Managers alongside HLM Architects, SDS Ltd (Services Engineer) and Paul Carpenter Associates (Structural Engineer).
Stephen Matcham from Stratton Creber Commercial commented: "We are especially pleased to have successfully secured the purchase of this property on behalf of Plymouth College of Art. Having been previously involved in the college’s acquisition of Palace Court on the same street, we appreciated how this building offered a unique synergy when considered together with Palace Court and the nearby main college campus. The area around Buckwell Street is the centre for a number of exciting developments in the city.”
Michael Easton, Associate Director at JLL Hospitality and Retail Group, representing the previous owners of the site, said: “Despite considerable interest from other parties, we are delighted that Plymouth College of Art secured the venue and can continue expansion plans on the same street as its new Palace Court campus.”
£25m investment in the regeneration of Plymouth
Palace Studios will add to regeneration of the area between Drake Circus and the Barbican, which Plymouth College of Art contributed to last year with the opening of Palace Court, the college’s dedicated Pre-Degree campus for over 600 16 to 19-year-olds studying creative Extended Diplomas, also on Buckwell Street. Since 2010 Plymouth College of Art and Plymouth School of Creative Arts have invested more than £25m in the city of Plymouth, and created circa 200 new jobs.
Palace Studios will include two large specialist studios, comprising spaces over 160m2, designed to meet the needs of modern art, design and media students, high windows for natural light, plus an enclosed courtyard social area, all housed only 250 metres away from the sea and five minutes walk from the college’s main Tavistock Place campus.
A foundation for the creative industries
UAL Foundation Diplomas in Art & Design at Plymouth College of Art are intensive and diagnostic one-year courses that prepare students for competitive degree-level study in the creative arts, designed and awarded by UAL Awarding Body, which is part of the University of the Arts London (UAL).
Matias Shortcook, Associate Dean, Pre-Degree at Plymouth College of Art, said: “We remain committed to the importance of our Foundation Diploma in Art & Design. That year of vital experimentation gives our students the grounding to succeed at the most competitive arts institutions in the world and the creative industries beyond.
“Our past Foundation Diploma in Art & Design students have had work exhibited at Tate Modern and Saatchi Gallery, with graduates like Zowie Broach going on to found the international fashion label BOUDICCA. Plymouth College of Art is the most significant destination for Foundation Diploma in Art & Design study in South West England, a beautiful region that contains two entire national parks, four World Heritage Sites and the longest coastline in England.”
Industry-standard spaces to make
UAL Foundation Diploma in Art and Design students at Palace Studios will continue to have access to the industry-standard specialist studios, workshops and learning resources at Plymouth College of Art’s Tavistock Place campus, from the Ceramics and Glass Studios and range of printmaking and textiles workshops, and the 3D printing technology in FabLab Plymouth, to the wide range of photographic and digital kit in the college’s Equipment Resource Centre, as well as the cutting-edge facilities at the college’s new Palace Court campus.
The announcement of Plymouth College of Art’s latest development follows the opening Autumn 2016 of Plymouth College of Art’s dedicated Pre-Degree campus for 16 to 19-year-olds by Katie Greenyer, Creative Director of Pentland Brands, the opening in 2015 of The Red House, home to Plymouth School of Creative Arts by Sir Nicholas Serota, incoming Chairman of Arts Council England and current Director of Tate, and the opening of the college’s Craft, Design and Fabrication Workshops in 2014 by Sir John Sorrell CBE, UK Business Ambassador and Founder President of the Creative Industries Federation.
International acclaim and awards
The Red House, home to Plymouth School of Creative Arts, is now an internationally renowned landmark building for the city, acting as a symbol of regeneration to visitors arriving in Plymouth by ferry from overseas. But did you know about all the awards that Plymouth College of Art and Plymouth School of Creative Arts have been shortlisted for and won recently in relation to their regeneration projects in Plymouth?
Plymouth College of Art - Palace Court campus
?Building of the Year Award shortlist in The Building Forum for Devon and Cornwall Building of the Year Award (2016)
Plymouth College of Art and Plymouth School of Creative Arts
?Client of the Year Architect’s Journal AJ100 award win (2016)
Plymouth College of Art - Craft, Design and Fabrication Workshops
?Building of the Year award shortlist in the Michelmores Property Awards (2015)
Plymouth School of Creative Arts - The Red House
?Building Magazine Project of the Year shortlist in the Building Awards (2016)
?Building of the Year Architect’s Journal AJ100 award shortlist (2016)
?Building of the Year and Project of the Year with a Value Over £7million shortlistings in the Michelmores Property Awards (2016)
?RIBA South West Award win (2016)
?RIBA National Award shortlist (2016)
?Judges Special Award win and Building Project of the Year (up to £10m) and Prime Minister’s Better Public Building Award shortlists in the British Construction Industry Awards (2016)
?Schools - Completed Buildings shortlist at the World Architecture Festival awards (2016)
?In 2016 The Red House was one of the RIBA Great British Building series of tours and talks, celebrating the best of British architecture.
?Andy Theobald, Studio Leader at Feilden Clegg Bradley Studios, won RIBA South West Project Architect of the Year for his work on The Red House. (2016)