The firm is delivering the £28m project for Kaplan International and will complete the live-learn centre for the start of the 2019 term.

The 13-storey accommodation block and a three-storey college building for up to 900 students for the college will be a flagship development in Liverpool Knowledge Quarter’s £1bn Paddington Village district.

Architect CPMG designed the centre with Kettering-based Building Services Design acting as M&E Consultant and Curtins on board as structural design consultant.

It marks Kier’s second project in the area, building on the success of its recently completed Sensor City project for Liverpool John Moores University and the University of Liverpool.

John O’Callaghan, Kier Construction Northern managing director, said the project added to Kier’s presence in Liverpool, where the firm employs over 130 people.

As well as Sensor city, Kier is responsible for a number of key projects on the Mayor’s Liverpool Schools programme.

It also builds on Kier’s wider portfolio of education projects across the North. The company was recently awarded a £28m contract to deliver student accommodation in Leeds and its 329-bed student accommodation scheme in Newcastle is nearing completion.