The British city of Bristol is honouring Jamaican-born Princess Campbell, one of the first black hospital ward sisters there and anti-race activist, by naming new student halls after her posthumously, Businesslive has reported.

“The old Royal Infirmary site, being built for Unite Students, will be named after Princess Campbell, who helped lead the city’s fight against racial discrimination,” the news outlet said.

Campbell House, as it will be called, will have 431 beds when completed and is costing £45m to build. It is due to open in the summer of 2022, representing it will be Unite Students’ 15th property in the city.

Princess Campbell, who was born in 1939 and died in 2015, challenged prejudice in nursing and housing in the city after she arrived from Jamaica in 1962. She trained as a nurse and became a ward sister, working at Glenside Hospital in Fishponds, Businesslive said.

She received an MBE for services to the community in 2011 having campaigned for black people and disadvantaged communities. She was also a founder member of the Bristol Black Archives Partnership.

Work on site, which fronts onto Marlborough Street, was paused during the early months of the novel coronavirus pandemic, after planning permission was granted in February 2020. Construction restarted on site in November.

The former Bristol Royal Infirmary building and listed chapel at the rear are both being restored for residential and community use as part of the redevelopment.

Matthew Loughlin, group development director at Unite Students, said: “Once complete, Campbell House will be the jewel in the crown of our properties in Bristol,” said the news outlet.

“The mixed-use development will create unique space, sensitively combining new with old, in a prime city centre location. We hope it will become a real asset for both the city of Bristol more widely, and for the local community.”