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Mace has beaten four others to a high-profile job to turn the former home of Cancer Research UK in central London into a new £140m academic centre for the London School of Economics, ºÚ¶´ÉçÇø has learned.

It is the contractor’s latest higher education win having also bagged a contract worth £100m to build a new life sciences facility for the University of Sussex at the beginning of the month.

ºÚ¶´ÉçÇø revealed that a number of contractors, including Mace along with Kier, Laing O’Rourke, Sir Robert McAlpine and Skanska were all in the running for the scheme at 44 Lincoln’s Inn Fields in June.

Specialist contractor McGee is already demolishing the site and is expected to complete the works by May next year with the project expected to complete by early 2021.

The new building (pictured above) has been designed by Irish practice Grafton Architects, which saw off a stellar shortlist to land the commission last year including big names such as Herzog & de Meuron, the Swiss architect behind plans for a new Stamford Bridge home of Premier League side Chelsea, Amanda Levete’s AL_A, which carried out the V&A museum extension, and David Chipperfield which is working on a scheme to turn the US embassy in London’s Grosvenor Square into a hotel.

The new academic centre will be known as The Marshall ºÚ¶´ÉçÇø â€“ after hedge fund manager Paul Marshall, worth an estimated £300m, who two years ago handed the university £30m to set up the Marshall Institute for Philanthropy and Social Entrepreneurship.

It will house the Marshall Institute, as well as the university’s accounting, finance and management teams along with a number of research centres. It will also contain teaching, sports and arts facilities.

The wider project team on the job includes structural engineer AKT II, project and cost manager Gardiner & Theobald, M&E consultant Chapman BDSP and planning consultant Turley.

Mace and the LSE have been contacted for comment.