Coleg Gwent moved a step closer to completing its new £13 million building at its Crosskeys Campus earlier this week, when it celebrated a ‘topping out’ ceremony to mark reaching the highest point in the new build.
To mark the milestone a fir tree was hoisted to the highest part of the building, the roof terrace, where it will be planted.
Representatives from main contractor Leadbitter Group, architect Broadway Malyan and the Welsh Assembly Government’s Department for Children, Education Lifelong Learning and Skills joined the college management team for the ceremony on Tuesday.
The 4,600 square metre state-of-the-art building will comprise 25 classrooms, a sports hall, performing arts studio, fully equipped learning centre, music studio, café and staff room and will be home to the 1,000 students based at Crosskeys Campus.
The new build will boast many ‘green’ features including rainwater harvesting, solar thermal panels, a biomass boiler and will be predominantly naturally ventilated.
Howard Burton, principal and chief executive of Coleg Gwent described the event as “very significant” in the development of the new campus.
He said: “This building represents the product of an excellent partnership formed between Coleg Gwent, our main contractors, Leadbitter and the architects Broadway Malyan.
“I’d also like to express my gratitude to the Welsh Assembly Government’s Department for Children, Education, Lifelong Learning and Skills for their ongoing support. It’s incredibly exciting to think that next academic year, the new campus will be buzzing and alive with our students.
“We expect the new building to open in the autumn term and anticipate that our students and staff will be excited and motivated by the excellent new facilities.”
Rob Bradley, regional director of Leadbitter’s Western Construction Division, said: “The Crosskeys project has been an exciting development for Leadbitter.
“Working in partnership with the college and design team, we have been able to contribute our considerable experience and to introduce cutting-edge technology, such as the intelligent building management system, which will not only make the building easy to operate, but enable it to meet the needs of the college for years to come.”
Approximately 50% of the project is being funded by the Welsh Assembly Government’s Department for Children, Education Lifelong Learning and Skills as part of a £50 million investment project to improve facilities of colleges in Wales.