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20 Jun 2024

Florence Boot Hall puts its best foot forward

In September 2023 Florence Boot Hall on University Park reopened following a year-long refurbishment programme, restoring the hall's natural beauty and enhancing its heritage.

Many of the hall's 200 rooms have undergone extensive transformations, with prospective students now able to choose from a range of options. Elsewhere, many of the communal areas have also had a glow up - for those of you who lived in the hall in the past, they may look almost unrecognisable!

Take a look behind the scenes of the new and improved halls with us, meet the university's 'Residential Experience' team and find out what Florence Boot's own great granddaughter thinks of the improvements.

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First a bit of history: Florence Boot Hall was the university’s first purpose-built women’s Hall of Residence at the then new University Park Campus in November 1928.

The hall received its name from its founder, Florence Boot, Lady Trent, whose husband Jesse Boot, the first Lord Trent, had established the Boots Company and more notably, donated the 35 acres of land at Highfields which became the university's home.

Constructed in 1928 with later extensions in the 1950s and 1970s, the hall had not been refurbished since the early part of this century.

A sustainable future for a historic building

Working with Nottingham-based architects Maber, our Estates team were careful to maintain the hall's historic facade, while bringing its interior into the 2020s.

This meant stripping the building back to its structure, with the removal of all mechanical and electrical services.

The approach enabled the installation of many state-of-the-art sustainable features:

  • Triple glazed timber windows
  • A refurbished slate roof with new leadwork
  • Air-source heat pumps

Bedrooms have been fitted with custom designed furniture, heritage features throughout the building such as original woodwork and parquet floors have been retained and a new main entrance space has been created, providing views into a landscaped courtyard which lies at the heart of the building.

The main entrance itself has also been updated into a landscaped courtyard complimented by ornamental tree planting and associated soft landscaping, which now provides an entrance befitting of the hall’s important heritage status within the campus.

Meet our Residential Experience (ResX) team

Since 2021 all the university Halls of Residence and those in close proximity to the three campuses are covered by the University Residential Experience Team (ResX) team. ResX is split into three areas of work including wellbeing, enrichment and social responsibility. The teams are a family face in the halls and have taken over from the model many of you will be familiar with - residential wardens and tutors.

The wellbeing team looks after students who live in halls and cover a myriad of different challenges that they face moving away from home and living independently. They work closely with university professional services including disability, counselling, mental health and finance to signpost students too, depending on the challenge they are facing.

Enrichment covers activities and events that happen in halls so students can de-stress after a busy day studying and make friends in their halls. The programme encompasses cultural, holistic, food and fun events!

Social responsibility looks at how students are encouraged to live together, celebrating differences and working through challenges with communal living. The team also looks at behaviour within halls, working with the university's internal conducts team to ensure that the halls are a safe and calm place for our students to study and live in. 

The refurbishment's familial seal of approval

Emma Houston (pictured with members of her extend family, right, green cardigan) is the great granddaughter of Florence Boot and regularly visited the hall as the refurbishment progressed. 

“It was a massive job, reducing the building to its bare bones. Triumphantly the hall has now risen, phoenix-like, from those bones, and has emerged as what I can only describe as surely the Ritz of University Halls; the jewel in the crown of Nottingham.

"The entire hall has been beautifully and very comfortably done, and if I was a student there I’m not sure I would ever want to leave!

"For me one of the best bits is the photo wall telling the story of Florence Boot. Without this, most students would never know the story of this remarkable lady. What an inspirational person she was; I am quite sure that through knowing her story she will continue to inspire students.

"Florence was my great grandmother and although I never knew her, she has always been my heroine. Lucky, lucky students I say!”

Click on the thumbnail images below to see more of the new and improved hall

The Boots