Investment in young people’s futures continues at Cirencester College with the news of an exciting and innovative new development of the College’s art facilities.
The £650,000 contribution from Wave 4 of the T-level Capital fund will support this new development which will see two floors of the College’s largest building refurbished and converted into art lofts. This investment in new facilities will give art students some fantastic new learning opportunities with the introduction of the new Creative T-levels which commence in September 2023.
Local architects Roberts Limbrick have designed the contemporary new space, the same firm who designed the Gloucestershire Digital Skills Centre and the soon to be completed T-level building at the College.
College Principal Jim Grant said “For years at Cirencester our lecturers have successfully taught art, textiles and other creatives subjects despite many facilities being cramped and outdated. We have also had the issue of what to do with the largest building on our site, a 3-storey 1950s classroom block with no disability access. Its location and the cost of demolition and rebuilding would be prohibitive and today we should always be looking at refurbishment before replacement.
Our solution is to convert 2 floors into large ‘art lofts’ to provide the kind of modern, creative spaces found in the design industry. The plans drawn up by Roberts Limbrick Architects will provide full accessibility and modern standards of heating, lighting and ventilation. These will be superb spaces with all the facilities needed for our T Level Creative students to learn skills, experiment and produce their work.
It also means that we can greatly extend the kind of creative courses available to students across the Cotswolds and North Wiltshire which we hope will include fashion, jewellery, ceramics and furnishings.
We were delighted to hear that our bid for T-level Capital funding to support this project has been approved and our teams have already been mobilised to make sure this new Creative and Design facility is ready for September 2023.”
For more information please contact chloe.suter@cirencester.ac.uk
