Francis Drake Hall of Residence



Francis Drake Hall of Residence is a student accommodation building in Plymouth, Devon, United Kingdom. The building is located on the University of Plymouth's main city centre campus, and is owned by University Partnerships Programme (UPP) Limited. It is one of two halls located directly on-campus at the university.

Background
Francis Drake Hall of Residence has 314 en-suite rooms arranged in flats with between three and ten rooms, and 15 self-contained studio rooms, all spread across three blocks. The building's blocks are named after areas in the city - Armada, Barbican, and Citadel.

The building also has on-site laundry facilities, and a café attached to the ground floor, which is open to the public and hosts events for outside organisations.

The building is named after Francis Drake, an English sailor and privateer best known for his circumnavigation of the world in a single expedition between 1577 and 1580.

As of 2023, the building has a rating of 3.6 stars on StudentCrowd.

Construction
The site the building is located on was originally a car park for the university. Planning permission was granted in 2006 and construction began in the same year. UPP hired Paula Willmore and Stephen Draper from Willmore Iles Architects to design the building, and Cowlin Construction to build it. The building was completed in June 2008.

Cladding replacement
Following the Grenfell Tower fire in 2017, the owner and operator of the building, UPP Ltd. tested the cladding and found that it was safe to remain. However, the cladding was visually ageing and they decided to replace the cladding on the building as a precaution and to improve the building's appearance. In a report filed by UPP, they stated that they found defects in the cladding and replaced it.

A pre-application document was submitted to Plymouth City Council's planning department on 18 June 2021, which was then followed by the submission a full planning application on 20 August 2021, which was approved.

Work began at the start of the 2021/2022 academic year, with the main contractor being Kier Group. Scaffolding was erected and students remained living in halls that year, which led to complaints from students who were living in the hall during this time.

Arson attack
At 3pm on 24 April 2021, a fire broke out on the 6th floor of the building. One person was injured, suffering from smoke inhalation, and a 21-year-old woman was later arrested under for arson after an investigation to determine the cause of the fire was completed.