The building of East Slope’s replacement halls is now in progress

Preparations are now in progress for the development of new student housing on campus.

The new buildings will replace the existing East Slope buildings, which have been around since the early 1970s, increasing the number of student bedrooms by 1,500 overall.

This first phase alone will establish 2,100 new bedrooms.

The new buildings are the first stage of a £500 million programme of investment to modernise the Sussex’s campus.

Planning permission for this project was granted by Brighton and Hove City Council just this summer.

Mantell will be the first building to get demolished as part of the university’s plans to expand campus facilities.

This will occur over the course of two months starting mid-November, when excavators will arrive to tear it apart piece by piece.

Wooden hoardings have been put up around Mantell building, former home of Sussex’s International Study Centre

Construction itself is scheduled to begin in early 2017 on this part of campus, with plans to create a new building for the Students’ Union as well as social facilities.

Registrar and Secretary, John Duffy, said: “We will be working closely with our partners on this project, Balfour Beatty, to ensure that we minimise any on-site disruption to our University community during the phased construction process.

“This is an exciting development for the University as we look to continuously improve our buildings and facilities on campus.”

The first phase of this new accommodation will be ready around September 2018, with all the work expected to be done by 2020