Sheffield architects Race Cottam Associates have worked with the university to design a new £3 million Post Experience Development facility behind one of the villas at the Collegiate Crescent Campus.

The new building replaces existing 1960s squash courts on the site and will provide a dedicated building to meet the continuing professional education needs of post graduate students.

The facility will provide increased teaching and breakout space for the department as part of Sheffield Hallam University's £100 million investment programme into new and existing buildings.

Collegiate Crescent is in a conservation area and environmental measures form a key part of the new development, including the use of natural materials and a lawned 'green roof' which will support biodiversity within the site, help filter pollutants from the air and improve insulation.

The new facility is built with traditional stonework, cedar boarding and timber breeze soleil cladding.

Race Cottam regional director David Speddings said: "We have a long-standing relationship with Sheffield Hallam University and have delivered a range of new build and refurbishment projects in this sensitive conservation area.

"The challenge was to design a building which, whilst replacing an existing 1960s structure, complemented the other, older buildings on the site. The result is magnificent."

The PED scheme forms part of a rolling programme of work, including the refurbishment, designed by Race Cottam, of the university's two-storey villas on Collegiate Crescent Campus.

So far six of the villas have been fully refurbished.