New Aberconway Student Community Hub set to enrich student life at Cardiff Business School

The newly launched Aberconway Student Community Hub is a vibrant space designed to enhance the study and social experience for students.

This development brings new and innovative facilities to the Aberconway building at Cardiff Business School, reflecting the university’s commitment to fostering a thriving student community at the north of the Cathays campus.

Created in response to student feedback, the hub offers an environment that meets the needs of undergraduate and postgraduate research students, as well as executive education and CPD learners. Staff will also benefit from the modern teaching facilities available in the hub.

Four zones, one community

The hub is divided into four zones:

• Aberconway Centre for Entrepreneurship: An informal and creative environment for students undertaking entrepreneurship activities as part of their studies or through extra-curricular events and summer schools.
• Virtual Executive Teaching Suite: A state-of-the-art virtual classroom utilising X20 OneRoom technology enabling new, creative approaches to online learning and teaching.
• Student Study Zone: Bookable and informal individual and group student study spaces and a dedicated area for access to library and support staff.
• Doctoral Research Studio: A modern and bespoke doctoral student study zone that brings Cardiff Business School’s 120 doctoral students together in one space.

The Aberconway Centre for Entrepreneurship and the Student Study Zone are open to all students, while the Doctoral Research Studio is exclusively for Cardiff Business School postgraduate research students.

The Virtual Executive Teaching Suite has been equipped with state-of-the-art digital teaching facilities. The goal is to be able to offer post-experience, executive students and alumni from all over the world the opportunity to engage in high quality online life-long learning with the School.

Relaxation and social spaces

Beyond the four zones, the hub also features The Courtyard, the Aberconway Garden, and Courtyard Coffee. These indoor and outdoor areas will provide students with inviting spaces to relax, socialise, and recharge between classes.

Professor Rachel Ashworth, outgoing Dean and Head of Cardiff Business School, says:

“After five years of planning and inevitable disruption during the pandemic, it is wonderful to be see the Aberconway Student Community Hub facility opening to undergraduate, postgraduate, executive and doctoral students. My sincere thanks go to the delivery team, who have been shortlisted for a Celebrating Excellence Award for Innovation and Enterprise because of the imaginative, future-focused and sustainable way they have designed and prepared this exciting new space. I hope our students enjoy it!”

Professor Tim Edwards, who succeeds Professor Ashworth as the new Dean and Head of Cardiff Business School, says:

"The Aberconway Student Community Hub demonstrates our commitment to enhancing the learning experience of our students at all levels of education provision. The dedicated resources will create new learning opportunities that will provide a comfortable context to work, collaborate and socialise. I am particularly excited with the way these zones have been designed to encourage the building of a new student community around entrepreneurship whilst improving the working space for doctoral students, which can also bring our students closer to library and support staff in the School."