Work will start early next year on the nine-storey block, which will house Nottingham Trent University’s School of Art and Design.

Bowmer & Kirkland and GF Tomlinson are understood to be in the bidding for the project which has been designed by architect Hawkins Brown.

The planned building at 40–42 Shakespeare Street will provide a variety of workspaces for designing and making, collaboration areas, specialist studios and labs.

The building has been designed to achieve BREEAM ‘Excellent’ and DEC ‘A’ rating.

Design decisions, such as the use of post-tensioned concrete slabs and ceramic cladding, have helped to reduce their carbon impact using Hawkins\Brown’s self-developed, open-source H\B:ERT software.