Plans unveiled for Bangor University’s new business school project

Dale Spridgeon, Local Democracy Reporter

Proposals to create a business school in memory of a Welsh billionaire philanthropist and founder of the Kwik Save chain are due to come before planners.

The plans, submitted by Bangor University, are part of the development of the new Albert Gubay Business School on the former Coleg Menai and Friars Lower School site.

The late Rhyl-born businessman Albert Gubay famously made a divine pact with God, when he was young and penniless selling sweets from the back of a van, that he would share his wealth with the church if he made it big.

Donations

The devout Roman Catholic went on to amass a fortune of more than one billion distributing most of it to charitable causes throughout his life.

By 2006, he had become the 698th richest person in the world and he was honoured by the Pope for his philanthropic endeavours.

He died in 2016 at his home in Cheshire, at the age of 87.

Among the beneficiaries of Albert Gubay Charitable Foundation, Bangor University would receive more than £10M.

The donation was hailed in the press earlier this year, as possibly the largest gift in the institution’s history and arguably within the universities in Wales.

The university had said at the time it was “thrilled” and the Vice-Chancellor Prof Edmund Burke was reported as saying the gift was an “extraordinary act of generosity”.

The cash meant the university could start work on the Albert Gubay Business School in 2026.

Application 

Cyngor Gwynedd has now received several planning applications, related to the development, including one for Listed Building Consent

An application describes demolishing existing rear extensions and erecting a new two storey extension and internal alterations at the Coleg Menai former Friars Lower School site, the Ffriddoedd Road site.

A second also concerns the demolition of existing rear extensions,  the erection new two storey extension but also includes landscaping works, erection of a new bike and bin store and re-organisation of the layout of a car park.

A design and access statement in the initial plan, states: “At the heart of the scheme lies the Old Friars Grade II Listed Building which has been purchased by the University with a look to bringing this historical asset back to life becoming a key gateway into the University Campus”.

The proposed development comprises of alterations, partial demolition and extension of the Grade II Listed Friars Lower School to facilitate the creation of a new business school for Bangor University” plans say.

The scheme “aims to refurbish and reuse the principal listed building whilst replacing the 1940s rear extension with a purpose-built, contemporary extension to provide enhanced facilities for the university’s business school.

“The proposed extension would be situated in the same location as the existing 1940s extension,” and would have a “broadly rectangular rather than cruciform footprint”.

It would be two storeys high, with  mix of pitched and flat roof elements intended to “reflect the rhythm and character” of the roof form of the listed building.

“The extension would also adopt a simple and robust contemporary form” and the colour and tone of proposed materials would be “informed by colours present within the architectural details of the listed building”.

Architects

Friars Lower School opened in 1900 for use by Friars School (Ysgol Friars).

It was built in 1899 to designs by Chester architects Douglas and Minshull, and was extended to the rear in the early 1940s.

The building was listed at Grade II in August 1988 for its architectural interest and Friars Lower School is of “special architectural interest” as a good example of late 19th century Tudor Revival architecture utilised in an educational context”.

It also says it has special historic interest as a purpose-built replacement school building of 1899 for Friars School (Ysgol Friar) the second oldest extant school in Wales.

“The Tudor architectural style of the building purposely reflects the founding of the school in the 16th century (1557)” it says.

“The historic use of the building as a school remains legible and is illustrated by the existing layout and character of the former classrooms, corridors, staff rooms and assembly hall.

“The later additions to the building and within the school grounds, including the 1940s cruciform extension and detached subsidiary buildings, reflect the site’s continued use and the changing requirements of the school over the course of the 20th century.”

The original Ysgol Friars, or Friars School was established in the city as a Grammar School for Boys, by Dr Geoffrey Glyn, utilising the old Friary building of the Dominican Order in Bangor, following the dissolution of the monasteries.

It was subsequently occupied by Coleg Menai, until March, 2025 when this too was relocated to new premises in the Park Menai Business Park.

The vacant site was purchased by Bangor University and is  now part of the university’s campus which extends to the north and east and includes the neighbouring Reichel Building,  as well as the surrounding playing fields.