Hi Tech & Digital Centre places South Devon College in running for two Michelmores Property Awards

South Devon College’s (@sdcollege) new Hi Tech & Digital Centre has been shortlisted in the regional Michelmores Property Awards in two categories: Education Project of the Year (over £5m) and Building of the Year.

The annual Property Awards, now in their 18th year, celebrate the most prestigious, innovative and exciting developments taking place in the South West.

This isn’t the first time the College has been shortlisted for these two categories, having won both awards when the South West Energy Centre was completed in August 2013.

Emma Honey, Head of Property at Michelmores said:

“Many congratulations to those schemes shortlisted in this year’s Michelmores Property Awards! The last few months have brought unprecedented uncertainty to all of our lives and now, more than ever, it is important to celebrate the excellence in our region’s property and construction sector. We look forward to celebrating 2020’s winning projects at a virtual event on Thursday 12 November; we will share more details on this year’s ceremony soon.”

The innovative £17 million Centre, designed by talented architects from LHC Design and constructed to the highest standard by Midas Construction, provides a visionary facility for further education and training support towards the ever-expanding hi-tech, manufacturing, digital and creative sectors across Torbay, South Devon and wider South West region.

The Centre inspires the local community by showcasing the latest in world class technology and equipment. The interior layout is designed to follow cutting edge principles in future proofing an outstanding teaching and learning environment.

There’s great emphasis on flexibility of space, the importance and need for social and collaborative study areas, and layouts of rooms which will mirror workplace processes and practice.

The Centre is made up of 15 dedicated workspaces for individual business units as well as two large, open plan collaboration zones, in addition to specialist computing, engineering, design facilities and the 100-seater screening suite.

A link connection joins the new Centre to the main College building seamlessly and has been further brightened by a colourful student designed wall mural. It takes you on an inspiring journey as you pass by, highlighting milestones in the evolution of technology and what lies in the future; a visual metaphor for the potential for new ideas and a new course for technological evolution right here at South Devon College.

With the facilities available within the Hi Tech & Digital Centre for training and education, and the focus on supporting the rapidly expanding sector in Torbay and surrounding areas, it’s expected that more talented individuals will find the opportunity to explore successes like this in a range of different sectors.

The Hi Tech & Digital Centre (HTDC) combines £8.13m from the Heart of the South West LEP’s Growth Deal funding from the Heart of the South West LEP, as well as funding support from European Regional Development Fund, Higher Education Funding Council for England, Garfield Weston Foundation, Torbay Council, South Devon College and private sector investment. It will be a flagship facility, alongside Institutes of Technology developments in the country.