PROJECT REPORT: EDUCATION & RESEARCH FACILITIES 33


Jobson. It refers back to the chalk found when digging anywhere around Winchester, again tying the building back to its landscape.


Environmental considerations The project team settled on an MVHR system to provide the right air quality internally, with warm fresh air brought in from the roof. The difficulty with introducing this sealed system, says Jobson, was that lecturers “don’t like not being able to open windows,” so the architects included individual openable windows among the majority non-opening windows. Acoustics were naturally crucial to get right; the architects worked with specialists Sandy Brown, who used 3D modelling on a room-to-room basis, compiling a schedule of the reverberation or absorption levels needed. The teaching rooms were reasonably straightforward, but the food hall, library, and auditorium required careful acoustic treatment. The food hall has glass and concrete surfaces, plus ceramic flooring, so acoustic rafts were integrated into the coffered concrete soffit to absorb sound. By contrast, timber over a quilted acoustic fleece fabric was used heavily to line the major public areas, the library features a timber slatted acoustic ceiling, and the material was also used in the auditorium, assisted by a curtain on the


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upper level to vary reverberation. Both low reverberation, for speech, and higher reverberation – for music recitals, were required, explains Jobson. The curtain on the first floor can be pulled back to reveal timber panels which help to diffuse sound; and permanently-exposed triangular acoustic reflectors also contribute to achieving the desired acoustic for the particular use. “It’s been designed to ensure there aren’t any awkward reverb times, or ‘flutter’ echo,” he says.


The other key material used throughout was concrete. While the architects are very conscious of its environmental impact, Jobson says it’s “very difficult to deliver such a flexible building using timber structures.” He adds: “I think it’s something we can advance in the future, but at that point it wasn’t going to work.” Concrete offered important benefits to the project: it was finished to a high standard and left exposed to maximise its thermal mass, as well as offering inherent fire protection. Ceramic flooring was used throughout most of the public areas, also for robustness, while the quieter areas - the library, auditorium, and teaching spaces, have carpet made from recycled material. From the outset the university wanted to achieve BREEAM ‘Excellent’ – the practice encourages all its clients to aim for such certification, while accepting it isn’t easy to achieve. Measures taken to provide


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“It’s ok to sit around, you don’t need to be under pressure to be working” Richard Jobson


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