design solutions
Kent’s Sibson - a fine ‘addition’ to the Canterbury campus
Willmott Dixon’s delivery of this £26m flagship building delighted the client with a building that will enhance the university’s reputation and help attract students for many years to come
• 2,420 sqm of departmental space for the School of Mathematics, Statistics & Actuarial Science, including academic workspaces, research space and administration and reception areas.
• 2,350 sqm of teaching and learning spaces, including three lecture theatres, seminar rooms and dedicated MBA and IT suites.
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HE University of Kent’s £26m, 8,000 sqm Sibson Building is home to two departments, the Business School
and the School of Mathematics, Statistics & Actuarial Science. It was the University’s largest-ever infrastructure investment, and the end result far exceeded their expectations. Kent’s Head of Estates, Peter Czarnomski, said afterwards “This is the best construction project I have ever worked on.” The new building provides 8,000 sqm of
new build academic spaces is made up of the following: • 3,137 sqm of departmental space for Kent Business School, including academic workspaces, researchers workspace and administration and reception areas.
16 highereducationestates
• New social learning spaces, and a café, breakout spaces and a staff terrace. The university wanted the Sibson
building to strengthen the position of School of Mathematics, Statistics and Actuarial Science (SMSAS) as a leading provider of higher education programmes in actuarial science, financial mathematics, mathematics, and statistics. It also wanted to give the School a new home that expressed its identity and character, as well as encourage interaction between SMSAS and Kent Business School. The building comprises a w-shaped
five-storey reinforced concrete frame to the North and a steel frame to the South. Inside are 150 offices, seminar rooms, three lecture theatres and a kitchen and dining area. A double-height atrium using
exposed glulam beams links two sides of the building. The site was split into two height levels.
This presented complicated ground work challenges which the contractor overcame by using 150 linear metres of ground- retaining sacrificial sheet piles. The curtain walling was also complex,
with 600 drawings for review and sign off. Willmott Dixon had to overcome a major issue when the curtain walling contractor was held up by late product delivery from one of its suppliers. Talking directly with the supplier, it worked very closely with them to overcome the problem as quickly as possible. The main curtain walling system was
supplied by Kawneer, and comprises AA®100 zone and mullion-drained curtain walling, AA®541 top and side-hung casement windows, structurally silicone glazed vents, series 190 heavy duty commercial entrance doors and AA®720 doors which are future proofed against expected changes in thermal regulations up to 2019. In addition, Kawneer produced some new bespoke 300mm deep vertical and
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