PROJECT INFO
Client Staffordshire University
Architect Feilden Clegg Bradley Studios
FCBStudios.com
Landscape Designer Grant Associates
Cost £40m
Area 8,800 sq m
Project completion Nov 2021
Left top Not only a learning space, the Catalyst also has catering facilities and areas for students to mingle
Left bottom Users of the building will be able to shape their own experiences, whether in busier areas or by going through zones of quieter reflection
Right, clockwise The building’s concrete frame provides a neutral external backdrop, but the student experience is enhanced by way of acoustic panels and carefully curated furniture
Below A cross-section of the Catalyst’s concept plan, which stretches to the length of a football pitch
learning, as well as the university’s links out to business. The building is buzzing with activity.’ The building’s concrete frame provides a neutral backdrop, with timber linings, acoustic panels and carefully chosen furniture giving character and setting the scene for the interior space. The furniture selection has been specified to adapt to users comforts and needs within these flexible spaces. Whether for the whole day or a short period, user can ‘shape routes and atmospheres’ through the different areas of the building, albeit a personal tutorials or 100 person lectures. Whatever the need or use, FCB Studios uses power and comfort as tools to engineer how people use those spaces. The building was designed in tandem with the concept masterplan, also by FCB Studios, taking the opportunity to lay down the marker for future buildings in the campus. Material choices are intended to make the Catalyst Building both a visual landmark and sit
comfortably within the local context. An angular frame of Staffordshire blue and red brick gives a modern yet functional design, with flexible, open-plan spaces across all levels of the building.
Says Marrack: ‘The walls are natural-finish ply and glass. The structure is concrete with exposed sofits and the acoustic rafts and bafles, which are integrated with the M&E, have a tonal quality. Special rooms are treated with black stained ply and a darker bafle.’ The Catalyst Building has been designed to be low energy, low water use and have a low
environmental impact, in line with the university’s net-zero and one planet ambitions. The building envelope is highly eficient, airtight and uses exposed concrete as thermal mass. North-facing rooflights bring in daylight, but do not add to solar gain.
As part of a holistic design approach, materials and components have also been selected to minimise waste, for example the glazing design, which maximises natural lighting to interior spaces and an air-tight façade which reduces energy transfer and heat loss.
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