The winning contractor saw off national rivals Galliford Try, Mansell and Vinci with a bid price of £34m.

Demolition of existing buildings at the Champion Hill site in Camberwell, south east London is now well underway to clear 1960s blocks to build 740 new or refurbished eco-friendly rooms.

The project will see GB Building deliver four new buildings up to five storeys in height and refurbish a large Grade II-listed Victorian building.

This new accommodation will reduce energy consumption and ensure substantial CO2 savings.

Photovoltaic panels on the roofs, a combined heat and power installation, low energy fittings, and heat recovery systems will cut energy consumption levels and help to reduce CO2 emissions by up to 77% per student.

Martin Smout, chairman and chief executive of GB Group said:  “Kings College London student accommodation is another innovative and highly sustainable scheme.

“GB was chosen as the contractor to the project because of our now-extensive experience in building student accommodation, with over £100m of schemes awarded to us recently in this sector.

“GB’s experience of building BREEAM ‘Outstanding’ developments means that we can add real value to Kings College London in helping them to achieve their Carbon Management Plan whilst also providing high quality accommodation for their students.”

Kevin Little, Director of Capital Projects, King’s College London, said: “We look forward to working with GB in order to achieve our aims of both providing high quality accommodation for our students and operating in the most sustainable way possible by reducing energy consumption in operating our estate and reducing the environmental impact of construction.

Work at King’s College Hall is due to for completion in Summer 2014.