The first building that will be constructed as part of the New Campus Glasgow project has been confirmed as the £5.6m Marine Skills Centre based at Glasgow College of Nautical Studies.

The new Centre on the banks of the River Clyde, which is supported with a £5.2m investment from the Scottish Funding Council (SFC), will include a new state-of-the-art teaching facility, the refurbishment of existing classrooms to be used as a workshop, and a new pontoon with free-fall lifeboat.

The existing marine facility at the College was built as a boat shed in 1968 and is no longer fit for its purpose.

The new facility will be built on the river embankment and, although attached to the land, will appear to float above the water.

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The new building will also double up as conferencing and exhibition space to be used by the other city centre colleges that are part of New Campus Glasgow along with Glasgow College of Nautical Studies - Glasgow Metropolitan College and Central College, Glasgow and ultimately by the new college that will be formed from the merger of these three colleges.

Mark Batho, Chief Executive of SFC said of the Marine Skills Centre: "The Council is committed to the redevelopment of the estate of the Glasgow city centre colleges and I am pleased to see the first phase of a 21st century campus, which will serve students from the city, the rest of Scotland and also internationally, is now underway.

"The River Clyde has played a large part in the history of the city of Glasgow and these new facilities will contribute to the regeneration of the Clyde as well as providing facilities that are on par with those of other specialist nautical training centres around the world."

"This is a milestone in Glasgow's proud maritime history and a milestone for New Campus Glasgow," said Richard Speight, Depute Principal of Glasgow College of Nautical Studies. "We attract students from across the globe based on the world-class quality of the learning and teaching experience here. Having the best new facilities will make us even more competitive."

Building work will start in this month and will take around a year to complete.

(GK/JM)