About Estates
After our students and staff, our physical estate is the largest single enabler for our world-class teaching, research, and student experience. It underpins everything we do as a university.
The University manages over 400 buildings which equates to around 350,000 sqm of internal space (GIA). Approximately 220,000 sqm is dedicated to our academic endeavours with 26% of this used for teaching and 19% used for research ranging from Grade II and II* listed properties to new state of the art learning and research spaces. Our library is one of the larger flagship buildings on the estate and it accounts for 7% of the total academic sqm.
The Estate comprises three main campuses in the UK (Whiteknights and London Road campuses in Reading, and our Greenlands campus in Henley-on-Thames) along with a Science Park, two farms, three museums, a pub, an overseas campus in Malaysia and satellite site in South Africa.
Director of Estates
The Estates Directorate is responsible for strategically planning, developing, operating and sustaining the university estate. It is recognised there are strong synergies and overlapping between them, underpinned by the Estate Strategy
Highlights:
- Whiteknights campus has been recognised with a Green Flag Award for the fourteenth year in a row, marking it out yet again as one of the UK’s best outdoor public spaces.
- Recently awarded the Sustainable University of the Year 2025 in The Times and The Sunday Times Good University Guide 2025; the University is proudly committed to climate change and environmental sustainability.
- We recycle over 60% of our waste and we’ve reduced our carbon emissions by 60% so far on our journey to Net Zero.
- 100% of our grid electricity is guaranteed to come from renewable sources, we refuse to invest in fossil fuel companies.
- We manage over 20km of Public Rights of Way, in excess of 10km of permissive paths, and riparian obligations covering a complex network of watercourses and main rivers.
- We've opened of 2 outdoor classrooms, created in collaboration with local schools and in line with National and University initiatives to engage children with the natural world.
- Estates actively manage the University's tree stock and have nearly 6000 entries on the tree management data base.
- In addition to modern teaching and research campuses, the university also boasts a significant strategic estate that includes several organisations of national and international importance. Shinfield Studios, the UK’s newest and one of its largest film studios, was completed in 2024 and is located within the Thames Valley Science Park. TVSP will also house new facilities for the British Museum and the Natural History Museum. At the Whiteknights campus, the European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts (ECMWF) is currently under construction. These partnerships offer valuable opportunities for collaboration across the university.