PLANS for a £21million student centre and library extension at Essex University have been unveiled.

Patel Taylor Architects, which designed the university’s controversial Ivor Crewe lecture hall, has drawn up plans for a six-storey library extension and a sloping three-storey student centre.

The centre’s ground floor will have a new reception, a large learning space with computers and a media suite for the student union, complete with two recording studios for radio stations and better television and newspaper facilities.

On the first floor will be the university’s inquiry services where students can get advice on finance, accommodation and registering for courses and other help they need, while the second floor will have another learning area.

The buildings will be open 24 hours a day and will have room for large group study, reflecting new styles of learning introduced recently.

Alex Reily, the student union’s vice president for education, said: “One of the things that’s been changing is that it’s becoming more group orientated.

“There’s a lot more project work and fewer essays.

“It’s something we’re excited about, because it’s an investment in students.”

The one million books and periodicals in the existing library are no longer enough, so the new extension will meet increasing demand and include more archive space and specialist collections.

Linking the two new buildings will be what the architect has termed “scholarly gardens”, while the buildings themselves have been designed to use as little energy as possible.

Richard Halsall, the university’s deputy director of estate management, promised the project would be the most eco-friendly in north Essex.

He said: “We’re very excited about the designs and we’re very pleased to be working with the same design team that designed the award-winning Ivor Crewe lecture hall, opposite the building.

“That was controversial, but it’s a very successful and well-regarded building.”

When Prince Charles visited the lecture hall in 2008, he described it as a “dustbin”.

Work is estimated to start in February 2012, with the buildings up and running in time for the 2013 academic year.