Students of Jewel & Esk College got their first sight of some of Scotland’s most exciting and high tech teaching facilities yesterday as the doors opened on the college’s ambitious £55 million e:volve campus redevelopment project.

Initiated in September 2005, the project has seen the creation of a new campus at Eskbank in Midlothian and the complete redevelopment of its Edinburgh campus including the building of the Club.

the Club is a landmark in Scottish education with its capacity to offer students a ‘real-life’ working environment in which to learn and train for careers in hospitality, health & fitness, beauty and complementary therapies, catering and hairdressing.

The distinctively shaped building, created by UK architects RMJM, features spa facilities that could be expected to be found in a 4-star resort, kitchens that would not look out of place in a Gordon Ramsay restaurant and one of Edinburgh’s best dining locations with views over Arthur’s Seat.

According to Project Director Steve Hudson, the e:volve project has been built on giving students and the local communities the best possible facilities in which to learn.

He said: “The new build has always remained focused on functionality and creating an environment which will place our students in a much stronger position for entering the workplace. We used our budget in a highly effective way and opted not to spend on expensive fixtures and fittings but rather deliver some of Scotland’s best teaching facilities.

“We have also made the redevelopment a collaborative process by combining professional guidance with staff input. This has ensured an environment that is fit for use and the long term benefits of this are hard to underestimate.”

The Edinburgh Campus has also included a refit of the iconic ship building and has achieved a UK first by becoming the first further education college to feature professional mixing desks from musician Peter Gabriel’s company Solid State Logic, the world’s leading manufacturer of analogue and digital audio consoles.

Funded through the sale of the old campus for house building, the new Midlothian Campus is set to become one of the most advanced technology teaching centres in Scotland. It features an Oil Production Platform Simulator, specialist engineering and construction equipment and purpose built plumbing and electrical facilities.

College Principal Howard McKenzie said: “The ethos of Jewel & Esk is One College – Two Campuses, and is intended to reflect the importance we place in being a part of the communities we serve.

“This ethos guided our decision making throughout the e:volve project and having now welcomed our students through the doors for the first time we look forward to doing the same with the wider public and letting the campuses take their place at the heart of the local communities in Midlothian and Edinburgh.

“The e:volve project is a landmark in Scottish education and will help to set a new standard for the delivery of practical training in real-life working environments.

“Scotland is competing in a global marketplace and it is important that our training and learning environments evolve to maintain our capacity to compete. As a college we have never been in a better or stronger position for training the next generation to challenge at the highest level.”

Email: alan.garland@bigpartnership.co.uk