Celebrations at reaching the highest point of the first building at Anglia Ruskin University – Peterborough, were attended by local councillors and representatives from the new university.
Phase one of the £30m campus has reached the topping out milestone with handover scheduled for the end of July this year.
Dignitaries including Mayor of the Combined Authority, Dr Nik Johnson and Principal of ARU Professor Ross Renton enjoyed a tour of the multi-storey building including the science, robotics and engineering laboratories, lecture halls, rooftop terrace and university café.
ARU Peterborough aims to address skills deficits in the area and aims to have a transformative effect on the city and region, driving up aspiration and improving prosperity and social mobility.
The curriculum is being developed with close collaboration with employers, to ensure students are equipped with the skills required by business and industry.
Principal of ARU, Professor Ross Renton, said: “You can feel the excitement and potential this university has in the heart of the city. Today marks an end to Peterborough appearing in a list of cities without a university. But it’s a new beginning. This one building is not enough. We need a whole campus – thriving in the heart of the city, to bring high skilled jobs. I want to thank all the teams here and I’m looking forward to many more topping out ceremonies in the years to come.”
Invitees were invited to sign a piece of the rainscreen cladding which will become part of the fabric of the building.
We have also started on phase two of the campus which is the design and construction of a R&D centre which will be handed over in December 2022.