A 'TOPPING out' ceremony has been held for the striking Poole Gateway Building.

The highest point of the building on Bournemouth University's Talbot Campus is now complete, and staff and students joined officials and a team from construction firm Willmott Dixon for the ceremony.

Due to open in 2020, the four-storey building will provide technical facilities to support undergraduate and postgraduate courses as well as research.

It will include facilities for TV, audio studios, sound editing labs, media production rooms, a green screen with motion capture suite and PC and Mac laboratories.

BU chancellor Lord Phillips said: “Graduates from this university are in demand right around the world.

"With the help of the facilities that will be provided in this building I am confident they will continue to be so, and that they will be in a position to make an increasingly significant contribution to our economy.

"This building is not just a gateway to Poole – it’s a gateway to the world."

At the ceremony, vice-chancellor John Vinney, said: "For me, it’s a very proud moment to be here because not only is this a gateway building to the Talbot site, it’s also a gateway to opportunities for our students and staff.

"It’s been a long time in the planning and this ceremony is a milestone achievement.

"This building will ensure that our site transforms once again and develops into a world-class campus."

The new building's facilities will predominantly be used by the university's faculties of science and technology and media and communication.

It has been designed by architects Atkins to meet the Building Research Establishment Environmental Assessment Method standards for environmental sustainability.

Poole Gateway is one of six major building projects in the university's development plan until 2020.

The Student Centre, International College and Fusion Building are already open and construction is under way on a Bournemouth Gateway at St Paul’s roundabout and new student accommodation.

A new link road from the Boundary Road roundabout has been constructed as a new entrance to the campus, as well as a bus hub and an extension to the car parks.