A new £35 million building to house the schools of business and mathematics at the University has moved a step nearer completion with its topping out ceremony.

University Deputy Vice-Chancellor Denise Everitt joined Richard Poulter, Deputy Managing Director of contractors Willmott Dixon, on 20 April to perform the ancient ceremony to mark the building reaching its highest point.

The development, to house Kent Business School and the School of Mathematics, Statistics and Actuarial Science, is the single biggest building ever built by the University.

The Deputy Vice-Chancellor said it would ‘offer students an excellent learning experience and staff a fit-for-purpose home for research activities’.

Willmott Dixon expect to complete the building in November, with the University aiming to begin using it early in 2017. It will provide 7,900 sq m of new academic space, include three lecture theatres, numerous seminar rooms, social learning spaces, a café, breakout spaces and a staff terrace. Designed by architects Penoyre and Prasad, the distinctive ‘W’ shape presents an impressive visual impact and the design makes the most of its woodland setting.

This development follows on from the recent completion of the new West Wing of the Templeman Library, marking the end of the first phase of its £40m redevelopment. The Wing provides 4,000 sq m of flexible space, including an exhibition gallery, seminar rooms and 250-seat lecture theatre. Work has now begun on Phase 2 of the project to reconfigure the central area of the existing building, followed by a final phase to redevelop the upper area