Ulster University (UU) has received planning approval from Derry City and Strabane District Council for a new multi-storey teaching and student centre at its Magee Campus in Londonderry, funded by the Irish Government's Shared Island Fund, as reported by BBC News NI.

The new centre will be connected to existing campus buildings via a bridge link to UU's existing library building. The building is designed to balance the campus's historic character with modern architectural elements, and construction is scheduled to begin later this year.

The facility will include interactive and flexible teaching and seminar spaces accommodating between 15 and 350 students, computer labs, open plan and private breakout spaces, a student services hub, office space, a café, and landscaped surroundings.

Professor Paul Seawright, deputy vice-chancellor of Ulster University, said the planning approval marked a significant advancement in the project's delivery.

Pat Murphy, chair of Derry City and Strabane District Council's planning committee, said the new centre would provide modern, high-quality facilities that would support students, staff, and the wider university community for many years to come.

James Lawless, the Dublin Government's minister for higher education, said the new facility would provide modern, high-quality teaching, learning, and student spaces, helping to attract and support students from across the island and further afield.

The Magee Campus expansion has long been identified as a catalyst for economic growth in the north west. The campus currently accommodates 6,500 students, with a target to reach 10,000 by 2032, a commitment included in the New Decade, New Approach agreement that restored Northern Ireland's power-sharing executive in 2020. That target is currently under review following a Stormont committee hearing last month.

The planning approval comes as UU is navigating a significant financial restructuring, having announced in April that it needed to make savings of approximately £25 million (€29.8 million) and would be making up to 450 staff redundant.