Contract is the third awarded to Mansell by the UPP

Mansell has been awarded a £24m contract by the University Partnerships Programme (UPP) to construct four-storey accommodation blocks at the University of Kent in Canterbury.

The project will comprise 495 new build student rooms adjacent to the existing Keynes College.

In total Mansell will build five townhouses and five purpose built one-bedroom flats. There will be a separate facilities management hub.

The development is designed to achieve a Breeam “Excellent” rating. Work has already commenced on the site and is due for completion by September 2011.

Sean O’Shea, chief executive of UPP, said:“We are delighted to be working with Mansell and the University of Kent on this £24m scheme, which will provide sustainable, affordable student accommodation.

“We are particularly pleased to continue providing significant private sector investment to universities at this time, helping to further improve the student experience at the University and ensure the timely delivery of important projects such as this.”

UPP and Mansell have collaborated three times before, more recently on the University of Kent’s Woolf College that was completed in December 2008.