You can clearly see into the trains at Bristol Temple Meads Station just metres away from the University of Bristol’s new enterprise campus. It seems extraordinary that, despite the proximity to the station, the site was until recently the home of a sorting office abandoned over 20 years ago. 

The Sloane Robinson Building, as the building is called after a hedge fund manager who donated £20m towards the £500m cost of the project, sits on the western edge of a huge 135ha regeneration site that is home to a mixed bag of car parks, light industrial units and derelict buildings. The new enterprise campus is being billed as the catalyst for the regeneration of this largely forgotten place.

This ambition has legs; already at least four student accommodation blocks with more than 2,000 beds are under construction or recently completed, and a nearby academy is half finished. The hope is that the development will widen out to encompass housing, schools, community and commercial uses.