£50m pledge to build hi-tech institute at Old Street

David Cameron and Boris Johnson today announced £50 million in funding for a hi-tech institute in London’s fast-growing Tech City zone.

Old Street Roundabout will be transformed into Europe’s biggest indoor civic space for start-up firms and entrepreneurs, teaching 10,000 students alongside global firms. Classrooms, workshops and business premises will be created in a space as big as the Turbine Hall at Tate Modern, opening in 2016 at a cost of £75 million.

Visiting the site today Mr Cameron said leading edge firms were key to winning “the global race”.

And Mr Johnson predicted: “I am absolutely convinced that the next Steve Jobs, Bill Gates, or Mark Zuckerberg, will hail not from Silicon Valley but from this small corner of London.”

The cash is another boost for London development after the Chancellor backed the long-awaited Northern line extension to serve the revamped Battersea power station.

Other Autumn Statement measures included £600 million for 20,000 affordable rented homes, an £85 million partnership between UCL and Great Ormond Street Hospital, £60 million for a National Research Centre for Structural Integrity and £150 million for a new Imperial College campus near White City.

After regeneration, the Tech City roundabout will have a 400-seat auditorium, boardrooms, labs, a 3D printing centre, lecture halls plus small shops and stalls.