Kier’s contract is for the construction of a new four-storey, 8,500m² undergraduate and postgraduate teaching building.

The £29m project is the latest phase of the university’s £100m redevelopment of its Jewellery Quarter campus in the centre of Birmingham.

As well as teaching space, the facility will also include an indoor running track, lecture theatres, learning areas and teaching staff offices. A 160-space multi-storey staff car park will also be built on the site.

The first and second floors will house eight classrooms and three 100-seat lecture theatres. The third floor will have a 35-metre indoor running track to assess speed and performance for UCB’s sports courses. The top floor will house a gym for the students. 

Work is set to begin on site later this month, with the building expected to open to students for the 2019 academic year.

Kie is already working on more than £100m of projects across the UK further and higher education sector, including at the universities of Cambridge, Warwick, Edinburgh and Trinity Saint David in Wales.