Construction Skills Centre breaks ground at Wiltshire College

A £3.6m facility to train the next generation of construction talent officially came a step closer as a ground-breaking ceremony was held to commence work at a new state-of-the-art building for Wiltshire college.

Celebrating the milestone of the new Construction Skills Centre were students and staff from the College as well as Paul Barber and Owen Taylor from Rydon, the main contractor on the project.

The new 2,303m² two storey building will transform the campus, replacing two existing buildings and providing new facilities for construction trades. It will also enable Wiltshire College to extend the range of courses and trades it is able to offer to its students.

The new centre is designed to meet the growing needs of local employers and the community for courses and apprenticeships.

The 40-week project will be complete for the start of term in September 2014.

Wiltshire College Principal Di Dale said: “This is a really important day for the college. The new Construction Skills Centre will enable the college to provide an outstanding teaching environment for a wide range of construction skills well into the future. The new facilities will benefit and inspire both employers, apprentices, students and staff alike and I am really looking forward to watching the new building grow and welcoming students to the new centre in September.”

Paul Barber, South West Regional Director, Rydon Construction commented: “We are delighted to be working alongside Wiltshire College to provide an excellent new learning environment for the next generation of our industry’s workforce.”

Wiltshire College is based across four campuses in Chippenham, Lackham, Salisbury and Trowbridge and teaches 3,300 full-time, 6,000 part-time and 800 University Level students.

PHOTO: Marking the start of building work by holding spades from left to right are Director of Estates, Simon Bray, Director of Campus, Karen O’Connell, Principal Di Dale and Vice Principal Business Development Ben Allen, with staff and construction students from Wiltshire College as well as Rydon staff.

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