Cardiff and Vale College: £45m city centre college site

The development is being supported by a grant from the Welsh government

Plans for a £45m state-of-the-art college campus near the centre of Cardiff have been unveiled.

Work on the wedge-shape building for Cardiff and Vale College (CAVC) south of Cardiff Central station will start in the summer to open in autumn 2015.

As well as providing education and training facilities, it will also have a rooftop restaurant, gym, spa, beauty salons, shops and a conference centre.

CAVC was formed after the 2011 merger of Barry College and Coleg Glan Hafren.

The merger comes as part of the Welsh government's bid to transform post-16 education and training in Cardiff and the Vale of Glamorgan.

The new facility will be built in the financial enterprise zone on former industrial land off Dumballs Road.

The college says it will be the largest construction project in Cardiff when it begins and facilities will be open to the public seven days a week.

The development is being backed by a £20m grant from the Welsh government.

"When Cardiff and Vale College was created, a vision was set out to transform learning across the capital region of Wales," said Mike James, its principal and chief executive.

"As part of this, the college produced a 10-year capital development programme to create sector-leading learning environments for the community throughout Cardiff and the Vale.

"Over the next decade, this ambitious and exciting proposed plan will see us working with partners, securing funding and developing centres for learning that are second to none.

CAVC was formed after the 2011 merger of Barry College and Coleg Glan Hafren

"Our new city centre campus is a significant first part of this."

The Welsh government's Education Minister Leighton Andrews said this type of building is what is needed to prepare students for employment or higher education.

He added: "The £20m that we are providing towards the cost of CAVC Canal Parade will help transform the delivery of further education and training across Cardiff and the Vale.

"When completed, this impressive new building will become a focal point for learners, employers and communities, helping to drive forward economic activity within the region."

CAVC is the latest in a string of colleges to build new facilities in Cardiff in recent years.

In 2007 the University of Glamorgan opened the Atrium, its first site in the capital, but plans for an expansion have been put on hold.

And in 2011, the Royal Welsh College of Music and Drama in Cardiff celebrated the completion of a £22.5m redevelopment, which included a 450-seat concert hall.