Construction firm ISG is to start work on a £5.8m extension at Colchester Institute.

The new extension to the South Wing marks a milestone for the College, after an £85m scheme to replace the existing campus was cancelled in 2008, part-way through development by the now disbanded Learning and Skills Council.

The new linked four-storey extension is being constructed on partially formed foundations. ISG will install further piles to support the new concrete-frame teaching block, which will provide additional classrooms, workshops, a library building and office accommodation.


The building will be linked at all levels by glazed walkways to the West Wing on the Sheepen Road campus in Colchester and incorporates a raft of sustainable features to help achieve a BREEAM Excellent environmental performance rating.

The 41,500 sq ft extension includes eight engineering and construction skills workshops at ground floor level. At first floor level, ISG will create a library, seminar rooms and a dedicated facility for the study of building technology and renewable energy sources. General teaching spaces, ICT suites, multi-purpose science laboratories, woodwork, a pottery workshop and a TV studio facility are located across the two upper levels.

The project is scheduled for completion ahead of the new academic year in September 2015.

(CD/JP)