The City of London Business School has announced details of its proposed new building, due to open in October 2002. The £40m development, near the school's existing Barbican site, will provide 9,300 sq/m (100,000 sq/ft) of space on eight floors, doubling the size of the current school.

The opportunity to design and build from scratch, on a key ‘brownfield' site in central London, is unique among UK business schools. It means that City can, in their words, 'build for business', creating modern, flexible space equipped to the highest possible standards.

To encourage participative teaching, raked and horseshoe shaped classrooms have been designed, with adjoining breakout discussion space. 22 state-of-the art lecture theatres, with the capacity to seat any number from 35 to 250, along with 18 accompanying syndicate rooms, will be a key feature of the new building. New, dedicated research facilities will provide space for the recruitment of research staff and the building of powerful multidisciplinary research centres.

New technology is a key feature of the building. Wide band internet and supercomputer access will support developments in financial engineering and e-commerce. Teaching on flagship programmes such as Mathematical Trading and Finance will be supported with a 15-seater real-time dealing room, giving students the best possible practical experience. AV and computing resources will match some of the best to be found in London, with the development of a new Learning Resource Centre highly equipped with both electronic and traditional resources.

Richard Byatt