Students on Cirencester College's T-Level in design, surveying and planning for construction are making the most of this practical course, by gaining first-hand experience of an on-campus building project.

They have been liaising with the principal designers of the new digital skills centre at Cirencester College. The £4.48m building, which is to be funded by the Getting Building Fund through the GFirst LEP, will be known as the Gloucestershire Applied Digital Skills Centre.

Architects David Wint and John Mooney from Roberts Limbrick are the principal designers of the new building, and have been working closely with the construction students over the last few months. The group has enjoyed listening to talks on their work as architects, and how the building has been designed in consultation with the college.

The architects also watched the students' case study presentations and gave valuable feedback.

Student Joel Snowdon said: "I chose the construction T-Level as my option, as it is a good route to become an architect, as well as the work experience that would be involved."

Chris Lythgoe, construction T-Level lecturer, said: "We are very grateful to David and John for taking the time to pass on their experience and knowledge and look forward to more talks, and seeing their drawings transformed into an amazing new building for our campus. The students tell me that this has been one of the best parts of the course so far."

Construction students will be watching the progress of the new building very closely and are looking forward to work beginning in spring 2021.

The building is one of over 300 successful projects which will receive a share of £900 million from the government's Getting Building Fund. The fund is investing in infrastructure projects to create jobs and support economic recovery across the country.

The digital skills centre, planned to be completed in early 2022, will offer the skills, resources and equipment needed in both the cyber and digital sectors and will provide the very latest equipment for the college's new IT and digital T-Level courses.