Cirencester College has celebrated its new £3.5m building with a topping out ceremony.

Matt Reynolds, college principal, was joined by year 1 T-level construction: design, surveying and planning students, Grace and Evelyne, builders from E G Carter & Co Ltd, architects from Roberts Limbrick, and partners from Ward Williams Associates to mark the structural completion of the building, set to open in autumn 2024.

This latest development at Cirencester College, will be called The Avebury Building. It will provide three large classrooms, a new home for the pastoral care team, and an expansion to dining, study and social space for students.

The project was partially funded through a £2m grant from the Department for Education's Post-16 Capacity Fund, which the college had secured to accommodate the increasing numbers of students choosing to study in Cirencester.

Matt Reynolds, principal, said: "I'm absolutely delighted to see this part of the project come together. The whole team have been working like a dream on this fantastic new building; on time, on budget, and top quality.

"We have a state-of-the-art campus, and this is the latest feature in our brilliant educational environment. We create a near university-like campus here, but with all the support specially tailored for 16-19-year-olds. It's a fantastic successful progressive model we've created, and this new building will be another part of it."

Thomas Jones, associate director at E G Carter & Co Ltd, said: "Today's topping out ceremony at Cirencester College's Avebury Building project marks a significant achievement for our team and partners. We are proud to celebrate this important milestone on another new build here at Cirencester College. It's a testament to our dedication to delivering quality construction and enhancing educational facilities for the benefit of students."

David Marks, associate partner at Ward Williams Associates, said: "Ward Williams are proud to continue their association with Cirencester College with the new three storey building project. This topping out ceremony marks a significant milestone in this construction process, when the highest point of a building is now reached.

"We, along with the main contractor E G Carter & Co Ltd and the project team, look forward to seeing this building completed and handed over to the college by September 2024."

John Mooney, senior associate at Roberts Limbrick, said: "We are once again immensely proud and excited to be continuing our work with Cirencester College on this fantastic new facility. This is another example of the long-term vision that the college has been so successful in implementing over the past five years, creating a much improved and enriched frontage to the college.

"We have been fortunate to work alongside other talented design team members and helpful teaching staff at Cirencester College over the years and will continue to keep students and lecturers involved with the build during the design and construction stages."