His Royal Highness The Prince of Wales visits Ulster University’s new Belfast campus

His Royal Highness The Prince of Wales has today visited Ulster University’s new state-of-the-art Belfast campus in a showcase centred around the creative industries in Northern Ireland. 

Prince William’s visit took place in the Belfast city centre campus, which opened its doors in 2022 and was crowned 2024 RSUA Building of the Year by RIBA, leading the celebrations for the 175^thAnniversary of the Belfast School of Art at Ulster University, one of the oldest creative art schools in the UK.

Shortlisted for Times Higher Education’s University of the Year award, The Prince heard from staff, students, President of Ulster University Student’s Union Ethan Davies and Vice-Chancellor Professor Paul Bartholomew about Ulster University’s transformative impact on teaching, research, and the local community of North Belfast, becoming an anchor institution for city centre development.

Just three years since his last visit to Ulster University, His Royal Highness spent time in the University’s creative industry spaces and heard about the thriving screen industry in Northern Ireland, bolstered by the University’s research and teaching excellence and with its roots in the Belfast School of Art.

The Prince visited the Virtual Production Studio, a £1m facility supporting cutting-edge teaching and research in the screen industries, and going behind the camera in a Nevada Desert scene, curated and produced by students, and then getting in front of the camera and taking to a 1950s motorbike to virtually ride through the desert scene.

As well as visiting some of the student spaces designed for study, group work and recreation, The Prince joined a training session for the SURF group, a programme delivered in partnership with grassroots community organisations to enable virtual production students to train other young people, who have not otherwise had access to many opportunities, to learn their craft, develop employability skills and raise aspirations.

Prince William also met with acclaimed actor and the first person with Down’s Syndrome to win an Oscar, Dr James Martin MBE, who commented:

“It was a great pleasure to meet Prince William, The Prince of Wales, again.  He presented me with my MBE at Windsor Castle in May. The creative arts are very important to us all providing opportunities to have fun and explore important topics.  It is so good to see this industry doing so well in Northern Ireland and Ulster University playing a big part in that.”

Today’s royal visit was an opportunity for The Prince to take part in the celebrations of 175 years of the Belfast School of Art and included an introduction to Dr Colin Davidson, world-renowned artist and Ulster University Chancellor, as a series of events and exhibitions to celebrate the past, present, and future of the School take place: The 175 Programme – Belfast School of Art.

His Royal Highness is no stranger to the University, having last visited the new School of Medicine in Derry~Londonderry in 2021, enjoying a taste of Guinness in the Students’ Union, and memorably visiting a mobile petting zoo that comes to campus to support student mental health, with The Princess of Wales holding a tarantula called Charlotte in a memorable moment for all.

Professor Paul Bartholomew, Vice-Chancellor of Ulster University said: “It was wonderful to welcome The Prince of Wales back to Ulster University and showcase our transformative new campus in Belfast, the home of the Belfast School of Art, in what is a very special year of celebrations. 

“With the help of our staff and students, we demonstrated our leadership in supporting the evolution of the creative industries in Northern Ireland, introducing The Prince to our work in virtual production and providing a glimpse of University life. Across all of our campuses we are feeding the creative industries – not only developing the skilled workforce that powers the sector, we are also undertaking the research and innovation projects to drive opportunity, we are connecting industry leaders to grassroots organisations to raise aspirations and we are ensuring that our communities are benefiting from the economic, social, cultural and education benefits that arise.

“2024 has been a momentous year for Ulster University as we celebrate the 175^th Anniversary of the Belfast School of Art with the help of our artistic alumni and our nomination for Times Higher Education’s University of the Year, so it was an honour to welcome Prince William to mark the special occasion.”