The 135-home first will be the first of four new communities that will take shape at Riverside and demonstrate designs for housing in the future.

Construction work on the 135-home scheme is expected to commence within weeks.

It is the first of four new distinct neighbourhoods that will create 1,000 city centre homes.

The £40m Vaux project will see Tolent use modern methods of construction, renewable energy and smart technology to reduce the carbon footprint of the development.

Included in the scheme will be a cluster of award-winning dwellings, that were selected as the best in the national Homes of 2030 Design Competition – which explored how homes will look and function in the future.

Two design teams were selected to bring forward designs for the site following a RIBA competition to develop future living ideas.

Winning designs include +Home – by igloo Regeneration with Useful Projects, Expedition Engineers and Mawson Kerr and Connector Housing- by Openstudio with Hoare Lea, LDA Design and Gardiner & Theobald.

Paul Webster, chief executive officer of Tolent, said: “The project will complement a number of local landmarks that we have constructed including The Beam, Beacon of Light and Echo Building.

“We have been working closely with the entire team since being appointed preferred bidder back in September and we can’t wait to get started”