Flats for more than 250 students are earmarked for the former John Player warehousing site in Lenton.
A project to build a new halls of residence has been tabled for a spot off Triumph Road, on the University of Nottingham’s Jubilee Campus, next to an existing block called Southwell Hall.
The three-storey scheme – named Project Xenia after the ancient Greek concept of hospitality – is designed to create 280 beds.
Until 2017, the site was occupied by warehouses which had served the John Player tobacco firm.
Former Player warehouses in Triumph Road, which dated back to the 1930s, were demolished so the university could expand.
Planning documents, submitted on behalf of the university to Nottingham City Council, state: “The extension will be located on land formerly occupied by storage facilities for John Player which is currently occupied by a temporary surface car park and wasteland.”
The new building is expected to be self-catered for undergraduates with three entrances.
Each entrance would provide access to cluster flats, each with a kitchen and social space.
A cinema room forms part of the plans.
A specially-designed kitchen and dining space is expected to open up on to a garden-style courtyard.
A second courtyard is in the pipeline, creating a quiet space to study or relax.
The planning documents state: “The masterplan design has been developed to respond to the existing site, the wider setting of the university campus at Jubilee Park and to provide a high-quality landscape scheme for the users of the new Xenia building.
“The two courtyards provide the opportunity to create attractive, green outdoor spaces in which students can relax, meet, sit and be active.”
They add: “In the western courtyard, a paved terrace area with picnic tables and seats in informal groups allows students to eat outside, leading from the communal kitchen in the building.
“A large lawn area provides space for sitting in warm weather and a hard standing area with tennis tables at the southern end of the courtyard provides activity.
“The western courtyard is intended to be a sociable, active space.
“In the eastern courtyard, smaller spaces with seating providing quiet areas to read or relax.”
A University of Nottingham spokeswoman said: “Living on campus is the preferred option for many of our undergraduate students and Xenia is the first part of a journey to enhance the university’s accommodation in direct response to student feedback.”
She said the university had worked with its students’ union and looked at data from a national survey.
She added: “We have looked at ways of creating a home-from-home experience, designed to make the transition from home to student life much easier.”
Ian Wells, vice-chair of the Nottingham Civic Society, said he was sad to see the loss of the former Player warehousing.
“We tried to get them listed, that did not happen,” he said.
“They have now gone, we are sorry to see the end of that. A new lease of life is very appropriate.”
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