The projected completion date for the new South West College in Enniskillen is August 6, 2020, Economy Minister Diane Dodds has said.

“The project is on track to achieve completion within the £29million budget approved in its business case,” she told Ulster Unionist MLA Rosemary Barton at Stormont.

Tracey Brothers, the main contractor for the construction and development of the new Erne Campus, is still working at the site of the former Erne Hospital in Enniskillen.

The new campus, which has been designed by Hamilton Architects, will see the delivery of the first educational building worldwide to achieve the highest international standard in environmental construction, PassivHaus Premium.

Construction of the 8,200 m2 building has provided employment for over 200 people including a number of apprenticeship opportunities.

Project Sponsor Eimear Grugan said: “The building will be sector leading in terms of the technology it employs in its construction and its sustainability. It aims to achieve PassivHaus Premium standards and BREEAM Outstanding. PassivHaus requires precision about how the building performs while BREEAM has a wider remit and measures the performance of the whole project based on a credits system.”

She continued: “The project represents significant investment by the Department for the Economy. It will create a dynamic juxtaposition between a 21st Century building and the adjacent 19th Century workhouse, which will be developed independently by Fermanagh and Omagh District Council.”