Contractor Clegg Construction has broken ground on a £13.5m Centre for Green Technology at Peterborough College.

The company has been appointed by the Inspire Education Group for the design and build of the three-storey reinforced concrete frame green technology centre, which is being constructed at the main college campus, off Park Crescent.

The centre – which will be a low-carbon project – will offer a curriculum that includes modern methods of construction, emerging construction technologies, alternative heat sources and electric vehicle technology. It will include a total floor space of 2,300 sq m and is due to be completed towards the end of next year.

Darren Chapman, director at Clegg Construction, said: “The Centre for Green Technology at Peterborough College is an inspiring project which will make a real difference to the future, training the next generation to work in green technologies and modern methods of construction."

“Clegg Construction is very pleased to have been appointed to partner with the Inspire Education Group to deliver this exciting scheme and we are delighted to have now started on site. With this being a live and busy educational setting, with public access, and lessons and exams to consider, the safety and wellbeing of students, staff and visitors is at the forefront of our approach – particularly as the building phase of the project gets underway.”

Over the course of the build, Clegg will be engaging with the college to provide experience and insight into the construction sector and associated professions for students.

Clegg Construction has previous experience of building a similar low-carbon project, having delivered the Energy Technologies Building at the University of Nottingham, which at the time it was built was the world’s first zero-carbon operational laboratory complex to facilitate research into bioenergy, hydrogen fuels, carbon capture and storage, biomass and sustainable architecture.

Clegg has also delivered numerous educational facilities including projects at Carlton le Willows Academy and Maltby Grammar School. The company also has local experience in the Peterborough area and is currently building an 80-bed care home on Waterhouse Way.

Other members of the project team building the Centre for Green Technology include consultant Gleeds, building services consultancy QODA, architects rg+p, and civil and structural engineers Stirling Maynard.

Peterborough City Council has provided £1.9m towards the cost of the scheme via the Towns Funds scheme, with the Cambridgeshire & Peterborough Combined Authority providing £2.471m.

Clegg Construction is a Midlands, East Anglia, and Yorkshire-based construction firm specialising in the delivery of public and private sector projects.

The company works with organisations of all sizes and specialities across a range of different sectors.

For more information visit www.cleggconstruction.co.uk