THE grey, concrete towers and cranes are a new landmark.

They have been a dominant feature of Huddersfield’s skyscape for many months.

But now the £73m college building is starting to take shape on land between Chapel Hill and Manchester Road.

And the Examiner has been given exclusive access to the Kirklees College building which is part of the huge Waterfront site project set to breathe new life into the town.

The 260,000 sq ft college campus will sit in a triangle of land between the two roads and the River Colne.

Work began on the ambitious project last April and the building is due to be handed over in July next year, ready for the opening in September 2012.

Project manager Ray Sheller said despite the weeks of bad weather, the project was already five weeks ahead of schedule.

He said around 50 contractors are working six days a week on the project.

Today will see a concrete floor installed which will be the first level of one of the main buildings and the Learning Resource Centre.

The college will include a five-storey general teaching block (A block) which will also incorporate a restaurant and bistro for public use, and a refectory.

The nine-storey B block, which fronts on to Chapel Hill and has stunning views across Huddersfield and towards Castle Hill, will include administration offices and a variety of general teaching areas including childcare, hair and beauty and science.

The seven-storey Learning Resource Centre will front on to Outcote Bank which will also be the main pedestrian access to the site.

There will be a street between the two main buildings, internal walkways and a glass elevator which will provide access, including disabled access, to the various floors of the buildings.

A triangle of land which fronts on to Outcote Bank will be transformed into a sensory garden and planting area for students with learning disabilities and those on foundation studies courses.

Students on the college’s construction skills courses are also expected to do some work on the new site in the next couple of months.

The college will leave its current base on New North Road when the new campus opens in September, 2012.

The development is the key part of the huge Waterfront site project, set to breathe new life into the area off Chapel Hill.

Sellers Engineers, which has occupied the bulk of the site for many decades, is to move to a new, purpose-built factory off Leeds Road, Deighton.

In December Kirklees College also announced it would be expanding even further with a new £7.5m engineering college.

It hopes to win approval from Kirklees Council planners in March for the five-acre site in the town’s engineering hub around St Andrew’s Road.

That project is expected to bring around 50 jobs to Huddersfield if the application is approved.

It would be completed in time to open at the same time as the Waterfront site.