The five-storey Premier Inn will comprise 125 guestrooms, a restaurant bar and meeting rooms. Designed by architects Faulkner Brown with Mills and Reeve LLP, the new hotel will form a gateway in the city.

The University of Sunderland and Sunderland City Council have worked in close partnership with GB Group to support the new hotel development, which will improve the connectivity between the University and the city centre.

Partners believe that the development is a significant investment for the city that will support growth in Sunderland’s leisure and tourism industries.

Phil Marsh, Director of Estates and Facilities at the University of Sunderland, said: “The hotel will provide further scope for growth in the University’s events and conference business, UniSpace, and is a welcome addition to Sunderland’s leisure and business tourism offer. The physical design and landscaping will continue the improvements made in the connectivity between the city campus and city centre and builds on the investment made by the University over the past eight years.”

Included in the £6m development scheme will be repairs to, and remodelling of the Grade II-listed former Gas Board building. Demolition of later additions to the original building will make way for the new hotel, with salvaging of structures or detailing of archaeological significance integral to the demolition.

Councillor Mel Speding, Sunderland City Council Cabinet Secretary, said: “As well as seeing a new use for the site and the buildings, we’re getting more bedroom space for visitors who need and want to be next to the city centre and the university for their business or leisure.”

The project is due for completion by February 2015.

www.gbgroup.co.uk