£65m West Cheshire College campus opens
OLYMPIC hero Sir Steve Redgrave will visit West Cheshire College in Ellesmere Port today to officially open the college’s Creative and Service Industries Campus.
The opening of the 19,500 sq m campus marks the completion of phase two of the college’s £65m project built by BAM Construct UK.
The completed campus now includes a dedicated 3,900 sq m Arts Centre, which will be home to more than 500 art, retail and event students.
Facilities include a 3D modelling workshop, games and media studios with green screen facilities and edit suites, ceramics and jewellery making workshops, fashion and textile studios and visual merchandising pods.
Sara Mogel, West Cheshire College principal, said: “From the outset we knew we were undertaking an ambitious project but we are absolutely delighted with the results.
“We have created a visually stunning building for the whole of Ellesmere Port to be proud of whilst at the same time a building that enables us to deliver vocational learning through flexible, real-work environments.”
Phase one of the campus opened in September 2011 and included a replica aircraft cabin for travel and tourism students; a patient simulator for health and social care students; hairdressing salon run in partnership with Francescos; a new beauty therapy room featuring 28 treatment beds and four private treatment rooms; a theatre with 150 retractable seats; a 1,340 sq ft dance studio and a 38-seater fine dining restaurant.
The final part of the development will now include external landscaping and new tennis courts which are expected to be completed in the summer.
