Most of our undergraduate and postgraduate courses are delivered on Talbot and it plays host to a range of lecture theatres, seminar rooms and specialist facilities, such as forensic and genetic labs, TV and music studios, and high-spec computer labs.
You’ll find plenty of inspiring study spaces across the campus to work in, individually or in groups – and there are lots of cafés and restaurants to enjoy between your studies.
When it comes to student accommodation on Talbot, the Student Village is close to all learning and social spaces, as well as our on-campus support services, which include the Medical Centre, Faith & Reflection service and Student Wellbeing service.
Talbot is just a short bus ride from Lansdowne Campus, where the majority of our accommodation is based, along with most Health & Social Care and postgraduate Business & Management couses.
As a fairly compact campus, it’s easy to quickly get your bearings on Talbot – but there’s also a lot to explore! To take a look around the entirety of the campus in detail, visit our virtual tour – or read on for information about some of the highlights.
Poole Gateway Building
Opened in spring 2020, the Poole Gateway Building is the latest addition to Talbot Campus. Offering 5,000 square metres of space, it’s predominantly home to a range of high-quality, professional-level production facilities. These include two multi-camera TV studios equipped with 4K (Ultra High Definition) cameras, a sound stage, music studios, a screening room, edit suites, sound suites, and a green screen and motion capture studio.
The building also accommodates animation and games PC and Mac labs, equipped with industry-standard software and the latest post-production editing eco-system, allowing for online collaboration for students working on group projects.
While it is used mainly by students from the Faculty of Media & Communication and the Faculty of Science & Technology, it’s open to students from other faculties too. With Naked Coffee in the foyer, it’s a great spot to catch-up with friends as well.
And, as with all our new buildings, it’s designed to be environmentally friendly and features a number of carbon-reduction measures.
Explore Poole Gateway Building in detail on our virtual tour
Christchurch House and Dorset House
These two buildings are where you’ll find a number of labs used across a wide range of courses. They’re also home to crime scene simulation facilities used by our Forensic Science students.
Christchurch House is where facilities for our Department of Archaeology & Anthropology are located. The Zooarchaeology Lab holds an impressive skeletal reference collection, while the Anthropology Lab includes hominid and primate teaching casts and over 1,000 sets of human remains – one of the largest collections of this kind held by any UK university.
Elsewhere in the building, in addition to the aforementioned crime scene facilities, you can find forensic lab equipment and a large teaching lab for students on our Archaeology & Anthropology, Life & Environmental Science and Medical Science degrees.
Dorset House ground floor was refurbished in 2023 and is home to our Business School. It provides collaborative study areas and meeting rooms, including the Executive Education Suite and boardroom, all with the latest technology to enable hybrid working, professional meetings and presentations.
Dorset House is also where our Forensic Toxicology, DNA and Microscopy labs are based, as well as a range of industry-standard analytical instruments.
Weymouth House
Weymouth House is a vibrant hub for our Communication & Journalism students, having been refurbished in 2024.
The ground floor plays host to an integrated newsroom, designed for large collaborative projects, along with four interconnected multimedia newsrooms. These are equipped with projectors, large screens and PCs, all of which have the Adobe Creative Cloud installed, including Premiere, Photoshop, InDesign and Audition for modern news production.
Other facilities in this building include; a TV studio and production galleries for preparing and broadcasting video news content, a production skills studio and a suite of radio and podcast studios, all with industry-standard acoustic specifications.
The Fusion Building
Opened in 2016, the Fusion Building is a modern, light-filled building, offering a variety of spaces to study and socialise.
These include three lecture theatres, 27 seminar rooms, research space, a PC lab and numerous catering facilities, topped with a striking glass-domed roof.
The building features a range of technologies to reduce its environmental impact, all of which have contributed to its BREEAM ‘Excellent’ rating. These include solar panels, sensor lighting and ground source heat pumps which lower our carbon emissions and heat the building in the winter while cooling it during summer.
The Sir Michael Cobham Library and Doctoral College
Located at the heart of Talbot Campus is The Sir Michael Cobham Library and Doctoral College.
When it comes to getting your assignments done, The Sir Michael Cobham Library is home to our largest collection of printed resources, in addition to multimedia and electronic resources. This includes our substantial collection of e-books and e-journals, which you’ll be able to access wherever you are, through our virtual learning environment and mobile app.
You can make use of one of hundreds of PCs in the library or, if you’d rather, bring your own laptop to work in one of the many study areas, from silent study floors to technobooths, bookable study rooms and social learning spaces. And there’s an Aroma Coffee by Nero on the ground floor, when you need that extra boost.
The Additional Learning Support (ALS) Team is also based in the library. They provide information, advice and guidance to support students with disabilities.
Located next to the library is the Doctoral College, which provides support to our postgraduate research community.
The Student Centre
As the name suggests, the Student Centre is a hub for BU students to work collaboratively and socialise.
Whether you’re looking to get together for a group assignment or catch up with friends, the Student Centre offers a variety of learning and social spaces. These include more beach-hut themed technobooths, plenty of light-filled breakout spaces and the Ground Up Cafe. And it’s not just indoor spaces – the courtyard outside the building is a great spot to enjoy a spot of sun.
It’s also where SUBU, the Students’ Union, is based, including many of its clubs and societies, and SUBU Advice. This is where you can access free, confidential academic and personal advice.
And if you’re keen to get involved in media, you’ll find SUBU’s student-run radio station, Nerve Radio, and Nerve Magazine located here. You don’t have to be studying a media-related degree to get involved – Nerve Media is available to all BU students and can make a great addition to your CV.
SportBU
Whether you’re a talented athlete or just want to keep fit and active, SportBU has something for everyone – and it’s a great way to make friends.
Situated next to the Student Centre, it offers a range of on-campus facilities, including a fitness suite (with up to 60 stations and various memberships options), a four-court sports hall, two all-weather floodlit 3G artificial sports pitches, and group fitness and spin studios.
If you decide to join BU, you’ll be able to take your pick from over 30 in-person group classes a week, plus a variety of virtual classes, and our comprehensive campus sports programme, where you can get involved in football, netball, volleyball and much more.
When it comes to our Performance Sport programme, TeamBU athletes have exclusive access to a number of on-campus facilities, including a high-performance gym, strength and conditioning suite, and a range of treatment rooms to keep them in the best physical condition.
Poole House
Poole House is the main entrance to Talbot Campus and home to our reception area and Student Services Teams, including AskBU, Residential Services and CareersBU.
It’s also where the Faculty of Science & Technology is based, along with many of our lecture theatres, seminar rooms and PC labs. Plus social spaces including the Atrium Café, Atrium Gallery, Dylan’s Kitchen & Bar and the Student Shop.
On the upper floors there are open plan working spaces and student support areas for Computing & Informatics, Creative Technology, Psychology and Design & Engineering.
Outside you’ll find the Bus Hub, with easy connections to all BU accommodation, Lansdowne Campus, the town centre and beyond.
The Innovation Centre
The Design and Engineering Innovation Centre is a series of workshops and laboratories fitted with a wide range of equipment and tools that are for the dedicated use of design and engineering students, researchers and related industries. By using this equipment to create and develop your prototypes, you’ll gain an in-depth understanding of engineering products and the production process itself, which will be invaluable once you’re working in the engineering or product design industry.
In addition, the Innovation Centre incorporates experimental labs to support the research undertaken in the Department of Design & Engineering.
Talbot House
Talbot House is where a number of our student support services are based. This includes the Medical Centre, which is open to BU students during term time, and the Student Wellbeing service. Our Faith & Reflection service offers a welcoming space for support, guidance, prayer and a listening ear, whether you have faith or none and regardless of your background.
The building also has music facilities, including practice rooms and instruments. You can join our University Music choirs, orchestra and big band or even take some lessons.
Next door to Talbot House is the University Retreat. As the name suggests, it’s a safe and welcoming space, open to students from BU, Arts University Bournemouth and the Health Sciences University.
