A new multi-million pound teaching, learning and research building has been officially opened at a Westcountry university.
£10 million was spent on the new-build at Tremough Campus in Penryn, Cornwall, to provide access to virtually round-the-clock academic and support services for students at Falmouth University and the University of Exeter (UoE) who share the site.
The so-called Exchange also includes a student information service with interactive learning booths and a careers zone to help graduates find jobs.
Professor Anne Carlisle, Vice-Chancellor of Falmouth University, said the new addition to the site would be of huge benefit to students and staff.
She said: "The Exchange is the culmination of the partnership of two great universities and offers both new models for learning and an innovative model to deliver learning in partnership.
"Over the last ten years, Falmouth has seen student numbers triple and we have benefited from more than £100 million of investment in our world-class facilities at our Penryn campus.
"We will use the opening of The Exchange, and our other achievements, as a springboard to build on the excellence of our teaching and facilities, and further our goal to be one of the top five specialist arts universities in the world by 2017."
Professor Mark Overton, University of Exeter's deputy vice-chancellor, said the campus was a "work of true partnership."
He said: "Its rapid growth is testament to the hard work and inspiration of staff from the Universities of Exeter and Falmouth."
Rich Pearson, from the Falmouth and Exeter Students' Union (FXU) said students were "thrilled" with the new building.
He said: "Many have said that The Exchange has been the missing piece of the puzzle and we now truly have a world-class university campus.
"The versatility and design of the space along with how students have contributed to its development have really made The Exchange something worth celebrating."
Chris Pomfret, chairman of the Local Enterprise Partnership (LEP) described the ten-year-long transformation at the campus as "astonishing."
He said: "The opening of The Exchange will complement previous European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) Convergence investments such as the Academy for Innovation and Research, the Environment and Sustainability Institute and Cornwall Council's Tremough Innovation Centre.
"The campus as a whole can now lead the way as a vibrant learning and business hub for future economic growth and sustainability for Cornwall."
