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Access Creative College (ACC) – the leading independent college for the creative industries – has announced that Phase 2 of its campus in Bristol City Centre will officially open to students on the 24th September.
Representing a £4.5m investment, the new cutting-edge educational facility transforms the former premises of legendary music venue Bierkeller, and arcade Harry’s Amusements.
At over 13,000 sq. feet, Phase 2 of ACC’s campus more than doubles its floor space in Bristol city centre. The Bierkeller site will be given a new lease of life and turned into state-of-the-art sound facilities, classrooms and events space. The campus’ other adjoining premises, previously occupied by Harry’s Amusements, will fittingly accommodate courses such as Esports Management, Creative Computing, Software Development and Games Art.
New beginnings for Access Creative College
Mark Smithers, Access Creative College Bristol Centre Manager comments, “What’s so inspiring for our students is that, as we all know, so many of the bands that played at Bierkeller – including Nirvana, Stone Roses and the Arctic Monkeys – went on to garner worldwide success. Harry’s Amusements also has a special place in a lot of Bristolians’ hearts, and although its days as an arcade are behind it, it’s great to be able to play homage to its history too and use the space to accommodate our faculty of Gaming courses.
“2021 is ACC’s 27th anniversary and as we look back at what the college has achieved in that time, our Bristol City Centre campus is an incredibly exciting place to teach the next generation of digital and arts professionals.”
Facilities at the new premises will include an event space and stage, a music studio and range of production pods, where students will be able to mix music, create podcasts and record video and sound. There will also be a multitude of classrooms packed with all the latest technology, as well as a number of breakout spaces and student collaboration areas.
Having previously operated from its Hengrove campus for over 18 years, ACC was Bristol’s first college with a sole focus on the creative industries. Artist Development, Music Technology & Production and Vocal Artist courses, which were previously run from the South Bristol site, will now be brought into the main campus in the city centre, where ACC’s Phase 2 facilities will play a pivotal role in skills development.
Shona Wright
Shona covers all things editorial at TechSPARK. She publishes news articles, interviews and features about our fantastic tech and digital ecosystem, working with startups and scaleups to spread the word about the cool things they're up to.
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