The University Council has agreed to rescind the membership status of the University Centre, meaning it will no longer serve as a shared facility for members of the University.

The Council approved a grace on Friday (13/02) that will rescind the Ordinance of the University Centre, which previously entitled members of the Regent House, university officers, fellows, and postgraduate students to be members of the University Centre. The grace states that the University will continue to own the building, though it does not rule out the possibility of selling or leasing it in the future.

The grace was prompted by the need for significant refurbishments to the building, which was built in the 1960s. The mechanical, electrical, and plumbing systems are described as “beyond end of life,” with the building being unusable as a common space until these updates are made. The grace states that the necessary refurbishments are “unlikely to be affordable for ten to fifteen years”, due to constraints on the University’s finances.

The University’s website states that “there has been no significant refurbishment of the University Centre” since it was originally constructed. It continues: “The extent of the maintenance and asset replacement that would be required to sustain the building’s long-term operational use would require a multi-million-pound project.”

The University Centre, a Grade II listed building located in the centre of the city, currently houses the Cambridge Students’ Union. It was originally constructed to serve as a meeting space with catering facilities for those not affiliated with a specific college.

Many of the original amenities have since been relocated, particularly since the opening of the West Hub in 2022, which provides students with access to a cafe, bar, and shop.

Some refurbishments were made to the building while it was closed during the pandemic, and the roof coverings were replaced in 2023, which enabled it to remain in use while deliberations continued over its future use.

The grace states that a large part of the cost of the remaining refurbishments arises from the need to replace the building's gas-fired boilers, in order to remain in line with the University’s commitment to achieve net zero carbon emissions by 2048. The grace describes these costs as “significant,” and currently unviable.

A consultation was launched in 2024 to consider the future of the University Centre, with those entitled by the Ordinance to membership of the Centre asked to contribute. There was a strong preference indicated by respondents for the Centre to serve as a “multi-use” hub, similar to the West Hub.

The repurposing of the University Centre forms part of a broader goal within the University’s Strategic Estate Framework to develop ten “themed forums” within the University, which are open to all University members and offer meeting spaces, a cafe, as well as specialised facilities such as labs.

In the interim period, the grace details plans for the available space within the University Centre to be reallocated to better serve the needs of University members. The ground-floor bar area, previously used as a wine bar by a private company, will be granted to the Newcomers and Visiting Scholars organisation, a volunteer group that supports University members as well as their families.

Part of the first floor is to be made into an Occupational Health hub for students, while other parts of the building previously used by Gates Cambridge Trust scholars will be given to IdeaSpace, a local company which describes itself as a “community of founders and entrepreneurs”.