The £7.75 million re-development of part of Bradford University is nearing completion – ready for use by students in the new term in September.

The completely re-furbished University of Bradford Communal Building will house the Students’ Union, counselling services and entertainment facilities.

The Student Central building was earmarked as one of several capital projects at the university to be pushed ahead last year to help revive the district’s economy.

The building will see a mix of study and social spaces, from the meeting and seminar rooms of the top floor, to the café and seated spaces of the central floor, to the bars and clubs of the bottom floor.

Ben Garner, a graduate from the School of Pharmacy, won a staff and student competition to name the building in March.

He said: “It’s a great honour to have my name picked as the name of the refurbished building after having spent the last four and a bit years in there either socially or as a volunteer for the radio station and the Students’ Union.

“I hope that the current and future students have as much fun in there as I have had.”

The building, which will be open to staff and students ahead of freshers’ week in September, will include a 180-seat lecture theatre, rooms for sports and societies to use, as well as the new studios for RamAir, the student-led radio station, which will be powered by solar panels on the roof.

The refurbished building, which will also feature a roof garden, has seen the inside rooms completely removed and re-built.

It includes a new glazed roof over the central courtyard to create more internal space and a glazed link to the JB Priestley library.

Shelley King, a sabbatical officer at the Students’ Union, said: “The opening of Student Central is going to completely transform the campus and the student experience for the better.

“The new build will encourage students to make the most of their time at Bradford.

“The space has great potential to be a creative hub of activity with the possibility of exhibitions, conference, performances and inevitably more.”

Professor Geoff Layer, deputy vice-chancellor at the university, said: “We are delighted with the progress made with a radical new approach to engaging students in different aspects of the learning process.

“Student Central provides a learning and social environment appropriate for the 21st century.”