WORK has started on a £5m lecture theatre at Merton College, with a projected completion date of summer 2010.

The new 130-seat lecture theatre is one of the college’s major projects as it prepares for its 750th anniversary in 2014.

Alongside the auditorium, there will be three seminar rooms which can hold 20 people each and a foyer ideally suited for receptions and for serving light refreshments.

Architects Ridge and Partners have used the open space between existing buildings in Rose Lane, dating from the late 1930s, responding to the scale of the existing buildings with appropriate massing and using robust, high-quality materials.

It will have a robust lightweight and energy-efficient warm roof with a stainless-steel finish which will weather to the appearance of soft lead, but without the added weight, embodied energy or the environmental damage caused by lead processing.

The evaporative cooling ventilation system can recover 75 per cent of the heat output.

The acoustic impact of the building has also been extensively considered both externally on the neighbouring properties and internally to ensure that the auditorium will be an ideal location for both the spoken word and musical recitals.