Pictures: Brand new student accommodation in Shrewsbury to welcome its first residents

On Sunday the first cohort of students will move into the new halls of residence at Mardol House following a major six-month building project.

The project involved converting Mardol House, a redundant office block within Shrewsbury's 50-year-old market hall complex, into a modern hall of residence for 86 students.

Work began on March 16 and to the delight of contractor Willmott Dixon, which built the town's Theatre Severn six years ago, they are on track for the students to arrive.

Tim Jenkins, programme manager for the University Centre in Shrewsbury and University of Chester professor, said the arrival of students to the town will offer up benefits economically as well as injecting some life into Shrewsbury.

He said: "This all is about Shrewsbury getting used to students but not only that the students and the town working together. I think Shrewsbury should make the most of it because students in the town will really provide a boost to Shrewsbury. It will give the town some more vibrancy too."

He also said discussions were also underway into the possibility of wi-fi for the students also linking into areas within the town centre for the community to benefit from too.

Professor Jenkins said he's "pleased" with the end result.

"I'm really pleased with how the accommodation looks, the contractors have worked really hard as have the estates team from Shropshire Council. It's been a real collaborative effort between Willmott Dixon, Shropshire Council and the team at the University Centre Shrewsbury," he said.

He added: "When I was at uni it was just about the quality of the course rather than the accommodation but these days accommodation is also something that helps steer people's decisions as to where they study."

Richard Williams, building manager, said: "This has been a very quick turnaround as it is a 26 week project. 10 weeks were spent on the enabling work such as the demolition and the asbestos, while 16 weeks were actually spent on the main construction.

"We also did a lot around town, spending around £8,500 on signage in conjunction with Shrewsbury Bid.

"We've given tours to around around 200 students, we've also shown around Telford College students, shopkeepers and traders from the market hall have all been shown around, as well as having interest from China and Thailand."

The accommodation, which stretches over five floors, consists of 86 rooms in total, consists of 22 studio apartments with kitchenettes, 54 en-suite apartments, communal kitchen areas, four apartments adapted for students with disabilities and six residential apartments for postgraduate students.

Gordon McCartin, construction manager, said a total of one million "man hours" went into the work - pre-contract and during the construction phase of the project.

Two-thirds of the project's workforce are tradespeople employed by local sub-contractors who live within a five-mile radius of the site, while the remainder are from within 50 miles.

Mr McCartin added: "Overall we're very happy with the results, the quality is excellent, these are some of the best on the market."

From next Sunday until Christmas, students will start moving into halls then by January, the final group of pupils will have moved in and the halls will be at full occupancy.

Professor Jenkins said the first three years will be the most useful in terms of feedback.

He said: "The first two to three years are going to be our best intelligence, openness and honesty will be crucial for us. It's going to be all about trial and error, so feedback will be important."

Work also included the renovation of a former caretaker's flat on the top floor as a two-bedroom penthouse apartment for a resident tutor, a laundrette, a new ground-floor entrance hall and marketing suite with new stairs, a new lift and two internal fire escapes.