The Acting Rector of Imperial College London, Sir Keith O'Nions, announced at the staff briefing on Tuesday 23rd February that the college would be shelving its multi-million pound SEQ Project.

The project would see the re-development of the college main entrance, Mechanical Engineering building, Skempton building and the Black Tower.

The model of SEQ, as presented by Foster & Partners.

The work would create 15,000 sq metres of new space and refurbish an existing 27,000 sq metres, improving the presence of Imperial along Exhibition Road and lower Imperial's carbon emissions.

Phase one of the project will still be completed by November this year, reportedly on time and on budget.

This phase sees the creation of a new lecture theatre, new workshops and new "shared teaching spaces" in the Skempton building.

Sir Keith told staff that "acknowledging the potential for Imperial to expand its activities into its new site at Wood Lane, and taking a necessarily sombre perspective on the risks the future holds for university funding sources, the executive board of the SEQ project has recommended that the next phase of the project should be postponed".

The Rector told staff that the planning application lodged with Westminster City Council has been withdrawn and that "the focus for the project team has already shifted towards exploring alternative, cheaper routes that will contribute to satisfying the space requirements of [Imperial's] core academic mission".

Not regretting the amount of time and money that the college has already invested in the scheme, Sir Keith said: "Planning this project so far has taught us a great deal. We have done much valuable work that underpins an exciting vision for what we want teaching, research and the general environment at Imperial to look like in the future. I hope that not one good idea that has come forward will be wasted, and I would like to thank the many who have contributed so much to the development of this project thus far".

The new Imperial College site at Wood Lane, purchased from the BBC in August 2009, will be used to expand Imperial's activities and provide accommodation for Imperial's postgraduate students.

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