Estimated to cost £11 million ($16.62 million), the project will demolish several buildings at the college’s Bede Campus and build a new sports centre and a new visual and performing arts building.
The sports centre will be a 1,205 square metre, three-storied facility, which will feature a four-court sports hall, a fitness suite, a sports science laboratory, classrooms and changing facilities.
The visual and performing arts building is also a three-storied building, which will feature a performance hall; dance and drama studios; music, photography and media classrooms; recording studios; and art facilities.
Targeting for BREEAM ‘Very Good’ rating, both the facilities will feature various sustainable features like the provision for maximum natural light, and use of locally sourced materials and photovoltaic panels. Apart from that the facilities will also feature air source heat pumps and some natural ventilation.
The other sustainable features of the project includes the installation of coloured rain screen cladding boards, which will give the visual and performing arts building a vibrant appearance. Reglit glass cladding will allow diffuse daylight into the dance and drama studios and allow activity from within to appear as shadows on the exterior.
The other works of the project include landscaped courts, widened roads, resurfacing part of the car park, creation of a new footpath, and relocation of refuse facilities.
Complementing each other, both the buildings will provide state-of-the-art teaching and learning spaces for Sunderland, as well as make the Bede Campus more aesthetically pleasing and practical.
Work is due to start on site in April 2013 and be completed by August 2014.
