About the Medway Campus
This splendid Edwardian redbrick and ivy-clad campus – dating from 1903 – has benefited from £50 million in investment since 1996. Extensive new laboratories and research facilities have been opened and the university has linked with other educational establishments to develop the campus as a major higher education centre in the Medway region known collectively as the Universities at Medway.
A massive expansion of facilities on the Medway Campus has brought about the renovation of two disused buildings, a new build and new laboratories. The centrepiece of the development is a magnificent learning resource centre, the Drill Hall Library, converted from a naval drill hall and offering 100,000 square feet of space. It houses a library, computers, study areas and teaching rooms. The Pilkington Building next door, converted from the naval canteen, contains a lecture theatre, exhibition space, teaching rooms, a bistro-style café and the base for the Universities at Medway Student Association.
There is a new engineering research block, the Wolfson Centre, specialising in bulk solid handling, and additional laboratory facilities for Medway School of Pharmacy and the School of Science.
The campus has modern workshops and equipment, including a computer-aided design studio and a training dispensary for pharmacy students. The Centre for Sport & Exercise Science has the latest in 3D movement and force analysis equipment, enabling researchers to help professional athletes improve technique and avoid injury.
Social facilities
The student village boasts a mix of social and leisure facilities, including a restaurant in Pembroke Building and the Venue café in Pilkington. Sports facilities include a sports hall, a gym with cardiovascular and weights rooms and outdoor tennis courts. The on-campus bar, Coopers, offers meals and traditional pub games. Next door is Purple, a club venue. A general shop is also on campus.
Great Expectations... and great shopping
The Medway region is a haven of history, but it looks forward as well as back. The campus is based in Chatham Maritime, near Chatham’s historic dockyard. Close by is a pub overlooking the river and the Dockside Outlet Centre, which has plenty of good-value shops and even an Australian-themed café.
The area surrounding the campus is currently undergoing development to enhance its business, housing and leisure facilities. A multi-screen cinema opened in 2006 and Dickens World, an attraction based around the life and works of the author Charles Dickens, opened in 2007. This will offer rides and animatronics and a Dickensian shopping mall with a mix of themed restaurants and bars.
Rochester, a couple of miles to the south, is proud of its castle and cathedral (venue for the annual Medway Campus graduation ceremonies). Rochester stages events throughout the year, including music concerts and Victorian-themed Dickens festivals. In nearby Chatham you can find shopping centres and high street stores, while Rochester offers a range of quirky shops along its cobbled high street.
For those interested in watching sport, the nearest football league ground is Gillingham's Priestfield Stadium; Kent plays county cricket at Tunbridge Wells and Canterbury; and the Invicta Dynamos ice hockey team play regularly at the Ice Bowl in Gillingham.