Alumni leads design of university refurbishment

A former student of the University of Plymouth who led the design of its £14.5m Fitzroy Building refurbishment has returned to see the newly-opened facility.

The building closed in 2023 and is now the new home of the university's Plymouth Business School, featuring teaching and office space.

Shelley Oliver was the architect who led the building's design after studying Architecture at the South West university.

"I had an amazing experience studying at Plymouth on a highly-rated architecture course and it was a real full circle moment to come back as a qualified architect and see everything again," she said.

"When I came to the university, the Roland Levinsky Building was relatively new and housed the architectural department in the top floors," she added.

"It was a striking and exciting building at the time so I knew there was form for bold and creative designs."

Rachel Goodsell, another alumni of the university, is the head of operations at the university's faculty of Arts, Humanities and Business.

Her role was to ensure the building delivered what was needed for staff and students.

Ms Goodsell, who studied Personnel and Development, said: "There has been an aspiration for many years now to have a new business school on campus and I am really proud to have been part of the team to finally make this happen.

"I really feel that we have managed to give the students and staff a professional business school building that they can be proud of."

Pam Frost, also a former University of Plymouth student, was also involved in the updating of the building.

She studied Business Management and is currently studying a degree apprenticeship in Project Management.

Alongside her studies, she works as a capital projects manager at the university.

She said: "It's been fantastic to work on this project and see it come to life.

"The highlight is when you have an amazing end product after being involved in the project for years and being able to show off what a great refurbished facility it is."

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