Work is now well underway on the new £17m sports centre at Imperial College London’s South Kensington campus on Princes Gardens.

Being built on the foundations of the existing, 1960s underground sports centre, which closed in March, the new five-storey building has been designed by Arup Associates to blend in with the surrounding architecture.

The development is being funded entirely by the college and is part of a larger, £75m scheme to restore and renovate the Princes Gardens area.

The new complex, due to open in the autumn 2005, will house a 25m swimming pool in the basement, a five-badminton court sports hall with a climbing wall, three squash courts, a 65-station gym, a sauna, steamroom, spa and an aerobics studio.

It will also boast sports injury treatment rooms and a juice bar.

The top two floors will be used as residential accommodation for visiting academics.

The sports centre will be open to students and the public on both a membership and pay and play basis, though details are still being finalised. Students will qualify for reduced rates.

Members of the old centre are currently able to exercise in the Upper Southside Lounge, which has been converted into a gym for the duration of construction of the new facilities. Details: www.imperial.ac.uk/sports