DESIGNED to "create a stimulating and flexible environment for learning and teaching", a state-of-the-art academy of management training is being built in Wales's capital, Cardiff.

The Cardiff School of Management - at the University of Wales Institute, Cardiff campus in Llandaff - is to become a leading centre in the UK for teaching and research in subjects including business, hospitality and tourism. It will provide new facilities for more than 100 staff and 2,000 students over four floors and 7,800 square metres and is expected to attract applicants from across the globe.

As well as training the managers of the future, it is planned that the 20 million pounds academy will be a resource for today's business community. Its conference and meeting rooms can be rented for conference use and courses on leadership and management will be offered to businesses and organisations.

Ceri Preece, vice-chair of the board of governors at the University of Wales Institute, Cardiff (UWIC), said: "This great new building will give us the opportunity to innovate and develop an exemplar of what a modern management school is all about - strong in learning and teaching, research and enterprise and accessible to the local community.

"Part of our master plan for the institution, which will see more than 50m pounds invested in improving our estates, the new Cardiff School of Management will allow us to continue to attract students and staff of the highest calibre," he added.

A leading South Wales construction firm, Willmott Dixon, is leading the project that will include a 200-seat lecture theatre with audiovisual systems, break-out spaces, a range of formal and informal learning and teaching areas, a cafe with garden terrace, a training kitchen, restaurant and bar and latest research and enterprise facilities.

A striking glass atrium will run through the length of the building as a feature point of the school, with a reception area, staircase and exhibition space for artwork from the UWIC's renowned Cardiff School of Art & Design. Copper cladding will also be a design feature on one of the outside walls of the building.

The start of work coincides with the completion of the new Food Industry Centre at the UWIC that launched recently. The Willmott Dixon construction team from the project has now moved across to the Cardiff School of Management site and has recently started ground works.

The Cardiff School of Management is part of a multimillion pounds framework agreement between Willmott Dixon and the UWIC. The framework includes several high-profile projects as part of a 10-year plan to modernise the UWIC.

The UWIC and Willmott Dixon are aiming to achieve a high rating of excellence for the centre's range of sustainable and energy saving features. These include natural ventilation, rainwater harvesting and lighting controls with remote sensors that automatically dim lighting depending on daylight levels.

Brian Drysdale, managing director of Willmott Dixon, said: "The new centre will attract students from many parts of the world and will not only enhance the student experience in this area of study as well as the research facilities in a modern and top quality environment. It is an exciting project to be working on and one that will receive a lot of attention within the campus and from the business community."

South Wales architects Austin-Smith:Lord have designed the iconic building. Tim Young of Austin-Smith:Lord said: "This building has been designed to make a statement about Cardiff as a modern capital of business. It seeks to convey a strong sense of confidence and progress, and has been designed to create a stimulating and flexible environment for learning and teaching."

Replacing the present Cardiff School of Management building at the UWIC's Colchester Avenue campus, the new building is set to open for business in autumn 2010.

The Cardiff School of Management is the largest of the five schools in the UWIC with more than 2,000 students. Of these, about 500 are postgraduate students, including some 50 research students studying for a doctorate. More than 400 students are on the school's master's degree course in business administration (MBA), making it the largest on-campus programme of its kind in the UK.

The school has more than 100 academic staff. Its enterprise activities include knowledge transfer assignments for companies as varied as Brace's Bakery and Cardiff International Airport.