The Enquirer understands Wates has won the tender race and construction will start on site this autumn.

The project is scheduled to be completed by the end of 2020.

The new 11,000 sq m building at the university’s Ravelin Park campus, will comprise an eight-lane swimming pool, fitness suite, sports hall, climbing wall, ski simulator and squash courts, as well as studios, teaching facilities and office space.

The sports facility is the first major phase of the university’s estate masterplan.

Mott MacDonald is providing multidisciplinary engineering services to FaulknerBrowns Architects on the project.

Mott MacDonald is delivering civil, structural and fire engineering, as well as acoustics, transport, air quality, archaeology and heritage services on the scheme.

Ben Moss, Mott MacDonald’s design lead, said: “In addition to the high sustainability aspirations, the constrained site means that several of the spaces have to be vertically stacked.

“To solve this challenge, we will bridge one part of the sports hall over the dance studios.

“The dynamic loadings will also require special analysis techniques to make sure that they meet the required standards for both strength and human comfort.”