29


  


The roof under construction


The main idea was to turn access to the building round, block-


ing off the former entrance and creating a new one onto the main entrance road. This plan uses the formerly empty part of the ‘U’ so as to


create a rectangular building, integrating the new part with the old and taking the opportunity to get rid of at least some of the 35 levels within. “What we could see when we arrived was fairly awful, it was a


complete rabbit warren, obviously out of date, and we were told that when they took people round they got lost; it was run down and not functional,” says Nick Hilton, project manager for main contractor Morgan Sindall. The empty section of the former ‘U’ has now been filled and


a wide flight of steps leads to a large light area known as The Square, an informal place for people to meet surrounded by cafes and shops.


It is covered by a glass roof and crossed at its upper level by a


bridge, and on its own floor by adjacent suspended walkways that allow the middle of the building to be crossed without negotiating the Square’s dining tables. This being the Percy Gee, the bridge is not entirely straight,


since one of its purposes is to join the old parts of the building across the Square and the old wings are at different levels. Morgan Sindall arrived on site in June 2009 just after the


union’s Summer Ball and had a deadline to finish the work by September 2010, in time for that year’s Freshers’ Ball. That timetable gave builders two summers when few people


were around, but still meant much of the work had to be com- pleted during the academic year when the building was in use. Hilton explains how it was done: “There was a lot of upfront


planning needed to allow the students’ union to function around a construction site with a lot of temporary hoardings.


continued on page 30


Page 1  |  Page 2  |  Page 3  |  Page 4  |  Page 5