30


 !    !


“Certainly it was difficult to be opening and closing areas


while people were moving between them, it was like a giant jigsaw puzzle. “We worked while the students were there with our staff


having passes so they could go from wherever we were working into the parts of the building still in use.” This led to some curious solutions to keeping things func-


tioning. For example, a gymnasium had to be kept open even though it was sited next to area that was being entirely rebuilt with new floors. Morgan Sindall solved this by building a tunnel under its


work area through which gymnasts could gain access. The building was underpinned for the work because, among


its oddities, the site slopes in two directions, though “the ground conditions themselves were not difficult,” he says. Standard pad foundations were used and a steel frame built on


them. This is fixed to the original building and at the top of each steel tower a 10.5m glulam beam has been placed to support the curved roof. The bridge is fixed to the steel frame and the walk- ways hang from it. All the mechanical and electrical services were refurbished, as


were almost all of the 273 rooms. Perhaps the main new feature of the refurbished building is its


nightclub, below the Square, which the students’ union now runs in partnership with the O2 Academy chain of venues. This replaced a cafeteria but had to be deepened by excavating


below the original floor, to create a sunken dance floor with an upper gallery area where the ground floor had been. Air conditioning for the nightclub is required only when it is


full, at which point carbon dioxide sensors trigger a mechanical ventilation system to increase the air supply. At other times it can draw ventilation from a tower that rises through the Square to the roof. This is one of many sustainability features that have seen


the university apply for a BREEAM ‘excellent’ rating for the Percy Gee. These include a rainwater harvesting system, installed as part


of the refurbishment, which collects water on the roof and stores in the basement for use in flushing toilets. Natural lighting can be used for the square on all but the dullest


days, and a gap deliberately left between the square’s floor and the walkways allows natural light to penetrate into the concourse outside the nightclub, previously an almost windowless area. The glass roof and partly glass wall of the square also allow


natural light into much of the building, and the square’s windows are all on a building management system, which senses


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