Weston College Principal and Chief Executive, Dr Paul Phillips OBE, swapped his desk for an eight-tonne excavator to mark the second phase of an £11million building project.
The £11 million investment will see the South West Skills Campus (SWSC) in Locking Road, Weston-super-Mare, transformed into a hi-tech learning environment.
South West-based Midas will develop the front of the SWSC creating classrooms, open teaching space, café and reception area, with more classrooms on the first floor, to be ready for September 2014.
The campus already houses the College’s Business Enterprise Centre (BEC) and the Construction and Engineering Centre of Excellence (CECE).
BEC’s new home is now complete, with classrooms, office space, training facilities and hi-tech bespoke space for the college’s business partners.
BEC’s former home in the nearby old Renault showroom is now home to a state-of-the-art motor vehicle workshop for the next generation of motor mechanics and technicians.
It is set to open this summer with classrooms and IT facilities.
Other developments around Weston College include plans to create an eco-house at the rear of SWSC, which can show students practical examples of green technology in action.
At the college’s University Campus, six new classrooms are planned, subject to planning permission, to accommodate growing number of Creative Arts and Design students.
