GRAHAM has secured Gateway 2 building control approval for Fallowfield Campus, the University of Manchester’s £530 million redevelopment and the world’s largest single-phase Passivhaus-certified purpose-built student accommodation (PBSA) scheme.
The milestone means all 29 blocks across the site now have Building Safety Regulator approval to proceed with construction activity.
Gateway 2 approval has been secured for the seven high-rise buildings (HRBs) that meet the Regulator’s higher-risk threshold of 18 metres or seven storeys, and approval has also been granted for the remaining 22 blocks below that threshold.
Authorisation confirms that the design for the 3,300-room scheme meets the safety requirements set out under the Building Safety Act for higher-risk buildings. The decision followed a detailed review of the fire safety, structural and construction evidence submitted for the project. This latest endorsement builds on the first Gateway 2 approvals secured for the scheme back in January 2026, when two of the development’s seven HRBs, both 14-storey blocks providing more than 400 en-suite beds between them, were given the go-ahead. GRAHAM lodged its first application with the Building Safety Regulator in June 2025, three months ahead of receiving planning approval.
Fallowfield Campus is being delivered through a 50-year partnership between the University of Manchester, Equitix, GRAHAM and Rothesay, with cornerstone funding from Rothesay.
GRAHAM will deliver the project in phases, with the first 1,000 rooms opening in 2028 and the remaining rooms completing by 2030.
Once complete, the development will provide 3,300 high-quality, sustainable student rooms and several shared amenities.
It will replace the University’s former Owens Park, Oak House and Woolton Hall halls of residence with five new neighbourhoods and a central hub of social and study space.
The scheme is on track to become the world’s largest single-phase Passivhaus-certified purpose-built student accommodation (PBSA) development, with operational energy use around 50% lower than a conventional new-build student scheme.
Neil McFarlane, Strategic Development Director at GRAHAM Investment Projects, said:
Reaching Gateway 2 approval across the whole of Fallowfield Campus is a huge achievement for the entire project team. With a scheme of this scale and ambition, it took strong collaboration and a thorough working knowledge of the process to secure.
We submitted our first application to the Building Safety Regulator several months ahead of planning approval, and that early, proactive approach to design and fire safety has been central to getting here.
Together with our partners, we’re looking forward to seeing this scheme come to fruition, delivering lasting benefits for the Manchester student body and setting a precedent for sustainable PBSA schemes across the UK.
Ben Leech, Managing Director at Equitix said:
Gateway 2 approval is a meaningful step forward for the Fallowfield Campus redevelopment. On a project of this scale, it reflects the detailed work that has gone into the design, safety and delivery planning, and gives the team the certainty needed to move ahead.
Equitix’s role is as lead project sponsor, equity investor, development partner and long-term manager of the project, and we’re proud to continue supporting its delivery as the new campus starts to take shape.
This innovative partnership approach also extends to how the scheme is being built, with modern methods of construction central to delivery at this scale.
Representatives from Equitix, GRAHAM, Rothesay and the University of Manchester recently visited Techrete’s manufacturing facility in Balbriggan to see the panels being produced firsthand.
Precast concrete is central to the delivery programme, with around 4,150 façade panels being manufactured offsite by Techrete, split between its factories in Balbriggan, Ireland, and North Lincolnshire.
The panels combine polished reconstructed stone and clay brick finishes. They’re made using low-carbon concrete and sandwich panel construction, where structural and insulation layers are combined in a single unit, helping to cut embodied carbon over the building’s life. The first panels arrived on site in Manchester in July, marking the shift from offsite production to on-site assembly.