An unexpectedly good mooch, which from the outside looked like a dreary empty office block.
History
Thames Valley University or TVU is part of the University of West London and formed part of several campuses in Reading and West London. The closure of the Campus was announced in 2009 and the doors finally closed in 2010, where the site fell into disuse and 1000 students had to re-locate to other campuses around West London.
Closure was put down to the recession/credit crunch, forcing the sale of the site.
"Professor Peter John, TVU vice-chancellor, said: 'For the majority of students the closure of the campus will mean a move to one of our other locations either in Reading or West London. All those affected will be fully supported through the transition to minimise any possible disruption to their studies.' A total of 650 pre-registration nursing students at the Slough campus will be provided with a provisional timetable and have been told to pack their bags for the move to Reading by December this year."
The front of the site has since been converted into a school, the Ditton Park Academy. This is still physically connected to the derelict parts, but has been sealed off.
The site consists of two tower blocks (7 stories high), a ground floor canteen, a small circular building and a 2 story admin block.
Plans were announced in 2017 to turn the site into 1,400 homes, but so far nothing has happened. Currently the site is owned by the Slough Council.
The Explore
A last minute explore with @mookster on a cold windy Saturday Morning. I have to say I was struggling to get super excited about a university campus explore, as I'd envisioned a tower block full of dusty furniture and nothing else.
Oh how I was wrong...
So the first thing is that despite appearing to be trashed, it's actually surprisingly untouched. Damaged and decay occurring naturally through years or damp, rot and pigeon dropping. On quite a few occasions we were pushing open doors past piles of damp grime and ceiling tiles. Clearly many of the rooms hadn't been stepped foot in for some time, and it showed.
In fact some of the decay was downright bizarre. One room had some of the worst rot i'd ever seen on one side, and the other-side looked barely touched. The circular room had some really nice architecture and looked great through the fisheye lens.
8 years this building has been empty and I've only heard about it till very recently. It really has flown under the radar for a long time. I guess people really really don't want to go to Slough...
Anyhow, turned out to be a gooden.
Photos
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
10.
11.
12.
13.
14.
15.
16.
17.
18.
19.
20.
21.
22.
23.
24.
25.
26.
27. Get your real fake doors!
28. The Boiler Room
29.
30. Made sure to get a good workout while I was here too.
History
Thames Valley University or TVU is part of the University of West London and formed part of several campuses in Reading and West London. The closure of the Campus was announced in 2009 and the doors finally closed in 2010, where the site fell into disuse and 1000 students had to re-locate to other campuses around West London.
Closure was put down to the recession/credit crunch, forcing the sale of the site.
"Professor Peter John, TVU vice-chancellor, said: 'For the majority of students the closure of the campus will mean a move to one of our other locations either in Reading or West London. All those affected will be fully supported through the transition to minimise any possible disruption to their studies.' A total of 650 pre-registration nursing students at the Slough campus will be provided with a provisional timetable and have been told to pack their bags for the move to Reading by December this year."
The front of the site has since been converted into a school, the Ditton Park Academy. This is still physically connected to the derelict parts, but has been sealed off.
The site consists of two tower blocks (7 stories high), a ground floor canteen, a small circular building and a 2 story admin block.
Plans were announced in 2017 to turn the site into 1,400 homes, but so far nothing has happened. Currently the site is owned by the Slough Council.
The Explore
A last minute explore with @mookster on a cold windy Saturday Morning. I have to say I was struggling to get super excited about a university campus explore, as I'd envisioned a tower block full of dusty furniture and nothing else.
Oh how I was wrong...
So the first thing is that despite appearing to be trashed, it's actually surprisingly untouched. Damaged and decay occurring naturally through years or damp, rot and pigeon dropping. On quite a few occasions we were pushing open doors past piles of damp grime and ceiling tiles. Clearly many of the rooms hadn't been stepped foot in for some time, and it showed.
In fact some of the decay was downright bizarre. One room had some of the worst rot i'd ever seen on one side, and the other-side looked barely touched. The circular room had some really nice architecture and looked great through the fisheye lens.
8 years this building has been empty and I've only heard about it till very recently. It really has flown under the radar for a long time. I guess people really really don't want to go to Slough...
Anyhow, turned out to be a gooden.
Photos
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
10.
11.
12.
13.
14.
15.
16.
17.
18.
19.
20.
21.
22.
23.
24.
25.
26.
27. Get your real fake doors!
28. The Boiler Room
29.
30. Made sure to get a good workout while I was here too.
Last edited:
:
