The Pastures comprises of the construction of five buildings to provide 1204 new student bedrooms arranged as cluster flats and 58 studios with social and administrative facilities, associated hard and soft landscaping, cycle parking, bin stores and vehicle access and turning.

The accommodation is split into three room types: 285 standard rooms which have shared bathrooms; 915 en-suite bedrooms and 58 studio rooms. Standard rooms are typically arranged in 12-bed flats and en-suite rooms are generally arranged in 10 and 12 bed flats, however there are instances of 9 and 11 bed flats within the scheme.

A new hub provides a reception, post room and administrative area, staff welfare, FM store and bin store all located to the ground floor of Block C. The laundrette is located to the eastern end of Block A fronting the square.

Accommodation buildings are arranged to create two undergraduate courtyards with the studio building (Building C), which is targeted towards returning students addressing Capon Road. A further ‘neutral’ courtyard is located at the centre of the site and designed as the main space for
student interaction and social events.

The scheme was completed September 2023.

The completed scheme received good feedback from the University:

‘We were delighted to be working with Willmore Iles Architects on the development of ‘The Pastures’, our new student residential scheme at our Colchester Campus. Their creative design solution has led to a scheme that provides high-quality and attractiveness combined with great functionality and efficiency. The new development provides a fabulous living and learning environment for our students’

Chris Oldham – University of Essex (Deputy Registrar (Infrastructure and Environments)