A new university campus for 7,000 students is to be built in Birmingham city centre.
Birmingham City University has been given planning permission for the first phase of its campus next to Millennium Point in Eastside.
It will house the Birmingham Institute of Art and Design (BIAD) which is the largest centre of its kind outside London.
The campus was originally due to be built in New Canal Street in Eastside, but a new location had to be found when it was announced the route of the high speed rail link would run through it.
The campus will ultimately cost a total of £180 million.
Although 7,000 students will be enrolled, around 1, 850 students and 230 staff will use it on a daily basis.
University bosses have promised Eastside will be a “landmark” building of five storeys which will mix the Victorian heritage of BIAD’s 168-year history with new technology.
There will be wind turbines and solar panels on the roof which will create up to 20 per cent of the building’s energy needs.
There will also be a “green and brown roof” which will create an environment for birds and insects.
The building was designed by Birmingham-based practice Associated Architects.
The BIAD will teach courses in fashion, textiles and architecture, and there will be a media hub including TV, radio and photographic studios studies and theatres.
Millennium Point is already home to the university’s faculty of technology, engineering and the environment and the Birmingham School of acting.
Professor David Tidmarsh, the university’s Vice Chancellor, welcomed the planning committee’s approval.
He said: “This city centre campus has been designed to provide a landmark building - one that will stand out as a learning facility that offers a first class student experience which in turn produces graduates with high levels of employability.”
The university will appoint its building contractor in July and work will start on campus in the autumn for completion by September 2013.
