Self-guided tour

Start at the Careers and Employability Service on Guildhall Walk. As well as advising you on your career choices, the team can help you find part-time work, volunteering opportunities, mentoring, internships and work experience.

Look up to see Rosalind Franklin Halls, student accommodation. From the Careers and Employability Service, walk on past the bars and clubs of Guildhall Walk.

Down the first road on your left, you’ll see White Swan Building, home of our performing arts courses. Linked to the New Theatre Royal, it has a TV studio, performance studios and music practice rooms.

On the other side of this street, just beyond Rosalind Franklin Halls, is St Michael’s Building, for pharmacy and biomedical science.

At the top of Guildhall Walk is Guildhall Square. On the left you’ll see Portsmouth Guildhall – that’s where your graduation ceremony will happen.

Just before you get to Guildhall Square, turn left onto King Henry I Street. Along here, you’ll find the historic Park Building on your right. This was the first building to be part of the future University. It's now home to one of the UK’s largest schools of language and area studies.

Ahead of you, at the end of King Henry I Street, is King Henry Building, where psychology and biological sciences are taught.

Take the pedestrian path to the right of King Henry Building. Cross over at the traffic lights on the main road – you're now on Park Road.

The University building to your right is Anglesea Building. It’s the home of engineering, as well as our law school and the replica law court.

Walk straight down Park Road, taking a right under the railway bridge onto Burnaby Road. On your left is Milldam Building. This former military barracks now houses social, historical and literary studies. Behind it is the University Nursery, which cares for staff and students’ children.

Walking further into the Northern Quarter Square you’ll see Richmond Building on your left, home of business and law, with amazing facilities including our Bloomberg Suite, SAP Lab and Business Simulation Suite.

On your right is Dennis Sciama Building, home to the Institute of Cosmology and Gravitation and The Hub, one of our students’ favourite cafes.

Just past Dennis Sciama Building and slightly set back from the square is Burnaby Building, for earth and environmental sciences and civil engineering labs.

In front of Burnaby building, you’ll find Buckingham Building where geography and computer studies happen. 

Pass through the brown gates to your right and you’ll see our new £12m Future Technology Centre ahead of you. Just behind it is Lion Gate Building, home of computing and mathematics.

To the left of the Future Technology Centre is Portland Building – an award-winning example of sustainable architecture with a hydraulics lab, great learning spaces and a café. Portland is home to civil engineering, surveying and property development.

Exit the Northern Quarter the same way you came in under the railway bridge and stop at the crossroads. If you head right, you'll reach Gunwharf Quays – packed with designer outlets, restaurants and the Spinnaker Tower.

Head back to the crossroads after lunch and go all the way along Burnaby Road. At the end, you’ll see the University Library. Open 24/7 in term time, it gives you access to information in all kinds of formats to help you study and research.

If you turn right and walk down to the roundabout, you’ll see St George’s Building straight ahead, opposite Portsmouth Grammar School.

Turn to your left and carry on up Cambridge Road. On your right you’ll come to the Students’ Union – home to our social learning venue 3rd Space, the student activities centre and your Student Union representatives. It’s a place to study, feast and chill out and a hub for all their societies.

You’ll also see Student IT Help and our community Eye Clinic.

Across the road from the Union is the Spinnaker Sports Centre. With the latest indoor facilities, it’s perfect for a range of fitness classes, gym workouts and social sports.

Behind the Sports Centre is the Spinnaker Building, home to sport and exercise science. This purpose-built facility has world-class laboratories, including two high specification climatic chambers, an immersion facility and an integrated swimming flume. 

On the corner ahead, next to the Sports Centre, is the Nuffield Centre. This houses a range of student advice services and is home to the Global team, the chaplaincy and a doctors’ surgery.

On the ground floor you’ll find the MyPort Information Hub – which is the place to go and get answers to your questions about student life.

Head towards the Eye Clinic and Café Coco and walk between them. Pass under the walkway, through an area known as Gunhouse Green, with the Union on your right. Continue along with the Library on your right. You’re now in Ravelin Park, and you’ll come to a ‘crossroads’ level with the rear of the Library.

If you carry on you’ll come to Ravelin House on your left, just before the path joins Museum Road. This is a leading centre for all kinds of criminal justice research and studies, and one of the biggest departments of its type in the UK. If you head left at the crossroads you’ll quickly come to our Dental Academy.

On the corner of Ravelin Park to your right is where Ravelin Sports Centre will be located. The building is designed to be one of the UK’s most sustainable sports centres and will be opening in 2022.

Cross the road directly opposite the Eye Clinic, walk past Mercantile House and take the immediate left. Just before the main junction is St Andrew’s Court, home to the latest facilities for developing tomorrow’s health-related scientists.

Cross at the junction ahead, so you’re on the same side of the road as University House, where the Vice-Chancellor’s Office is based. Continue along Winston Churchill Avenue and stop at the second turning on your right – Middle Street.

On this corner, to your right, is Trafalgar Hall.

Opposite is Eldon Building, home to creative courses including architecture, art and design, creative technologies, media and performing arts. Inside Eldon, discover a host of industry-standard facilities ranging from animation and design studios, to virtual reality and motion capture suites.

Continue along Winston Churchill Avenue and cross over at the next crossing. Take the wide path between the Courts of Justice and Crown House. You’ll come to Harry Law Hall on the left and Bateson Hall on the right.

Continue between the two halls, and you'll be in Guildhall Square with the Big Screen to your right. The Big Screen is a collaboration between the University and Portsmouth City Council. It showcases student work, plus some TV programmes, films, special events and broadcasts.

Walk under the Civic Offices, immediately to the right of the Big Screen, and Portsmouth and Southsea train station will be ahead of you, to the right. Turn right just before the station for more halls of residence.

At the centre of the city is Margaret Rule Hall and Greetham Street Hall. If you retrace your steps back to the train station and turn right, passing under the railway bridge, you’ll see Catherine House to your left, on the corner of Victoria Park.

If you’d like to go back to where you began, turn around and walk towards Guildhall Square. Pass under the Civic Offices, through the Square and keep going straight ahead, onto Guildhall Walk.