Project of the week

WHAT: A new teaching unit at a further education college. The building is on three storeys covering 1,920m2. The Mayfield Centre has seven IT suites and a media editing suite.

WHERE: Xaverian College, Manchester

HOW MUCH: £3.5m, part of a wider £6m improvement project. Of the funding for the overall £6m scheme, £2.8m is from the Learning and Skills Council.

WHEN: The college took 10 months to build and was completed on time. It opened on 24 March 2006.

CONTRACT: JCT 98 with contractor design

WHO: QS, project manager and planning supervisor: AA Projects, architect: local practice Pozzoni Design Group, M&E engineer: DSSR, structural engineer: Pickard Finlason Partnership, main contractor: John Turner & Sons

DESIGN BRIEF: The college is in a Victorian conservation area, which means the design has to be in keeping with its surroundings. The building incorporates sustainable and environmentally-friendly installations for power, heat, lighting and air conditioning.

PM's VIEW: "The challenge was getting approval to construct a modern building on a greenfield site within a conservation area. It would have been easier to go for a more traditional, red-brick type design. But the college wanted a modern space with high quality design because it wanted to present itself as being at the forefront of education. It took some persuasion to win over the planners and conservation officers" - Mark Abbott, associate director, AA Projects

CLIENT'S VIEW: "The mix of listed and modern buildings surrounded by lawns, parkland and mature trees offers students a very special environment in which to pursue their studies" - Tony Andrews, principal, Xaverian College.

FAMOUS ASSOCIATES: Xaverian College was attended by Anthony Burgess, the author of A Clockwork Orange, in the 1930s. HISTORY: The college was founded in 1872 by the Xaverian Brothers. It originally comprised a single building known as Mayfield but the campus grew through building projects and acquisitions. The college was home to the Xaverian family up until 1993 when the last of them left. One of its buildings, Marylands, contains a few of a very small number of Wedgwood toilets still in existence. The college principal reassured us they were no longer used by students.