Confetti Institute of Creative Technologies

Repurposing a Heritage Building for Modern Higher Education

Allan Joyce Architects were appointed by Confetti Institute of Creative Technologies to transform a redundant Victorian lace factory into a specialist higher education centre for music, gaming, television, events and creative media.

Located within Nottingham's Creative Quarter, the project reimagines an important industrial building, creating inspiring teaching spaces while celebrating its manufacturing heritage. Delivered over three carefully planned phases, the development allowed the campus to expand in line with increasing student numbers while remaining fully operational throughout construction.

Respecting the Building's Industrial Heritage

Although not listed, the former lace factory is a significant heritage asset on the edge of Nottingham's Conservation Area. Our design adopted a light-touch approach, preserving the building's industrial character while introducing contemporary education facilities.

Original brickwork, exposed steelwork and Crittall windows were retained wherever possible, with modern interventions—including exposed services and contemporary finishes—complementing the existing architecture rather than competing with it. The result is a building that celebrates its past while supporting the future of creative education.

Designed for Creative Learning

The new Higher Education Centre provides specialist facilities tailored to the needs of creative industries students, including recording studios, Dolby mastering suites, television studios, IT suites and flexible teaching spaces.

A new library, breakout areas and collaborative learning spaces support a variety of teaching styles, while the internal layout was redesigned to improve circulation and better connect the building with the wider campus.

Designed with flexibility in mind, the spaces can evolve alongside new technologies and changing teaching methods, ensuring the building continues to support future generations of students.

Phased Delivery Without Disruption

The project was delivered over three construction phases during summer vacations, allowing new facilities to open for each academic year while minimising disruption to students and staff.

This phased approach enabled Confetti to expand its teaching facilities in line with growing demand while maintaining day-to-day campus operations.

Our Role

Allan Joyce Architects specialise in transforming existing buildings into inspiring education environments. From university campuses to specialist learning facilities, we create flexible, sustainable spaces that respect heritage while supporting the evolving needs of students and educators.

Client Feedback

Greg Marshall, Director of Operations:

“We have worked with AJA for a number of years, we have always found their approaches to our projects to come with a depth of technical knowledge and a very high understanding of our business needs. AJA have been consistently strong at predicting the impact of design decisions on the end users which has helped us to make fast decisions and meet challenging build schedules”.