The building has won many accolades including the sought-after Project of the Year at the British Construction Industry Awards (BCIA) 2021, as well as being awarded Social Infrastructure Project of the Year.

It achieved further industry acknowledgement at the Education Estates Awards 2021 when the building was shortlisted for Project of the Year Universities.

This BREEAM ‘Excellent’ rated building was designed to meet UWE’s ambitious targets to reduce carbon by 2030.

Hydrock provided multidisciplinary engineering services reflecting the client’s aim of encouraging diversity within engineering and meeting the local demand for skilled graduates. The iconic, Corten steel clad building features flexible and collaborative teaching, learning and research spaces for 1,600 students and 100 employees.

Three storeys of laboratories and teaching spaces surround a central atrium - a large, open space flooded with natural daylight. As a communal space, it tiers upwards and outwards from a ground floor platform, featuring multiple interactive spaces for sitting and collaborating.

Engineering solutions

The building reflects the physical nature of different engineering subjects. This involved designing spaces for ‘heavier’, material-based engineering on the ground floor and catering for ‘lighter’ and cleaner engineering forms, for example hydraulics, acoustic and electrical, as you move up each of the three floors.

More traditional ‘heavy’ engineering subjects such as structural engineering, construction material, mechanical workshops and engine test cells require large spaces. These testing spaces need to absorb vibrational impact and minimise disturbance to other teaching spaces nearby, which was achieved through designing a reinforced concrete ‘floating slab’ mounted on special acoustic bearing pads at regular spacings.

A 1.2m thick reinforced concrete strong wall and strong floor, capable of withstanding 150t, has been designed to enable testing of construction material and aircraft components. Bespoke anchors embedded within the strong wall and strong floor and a 2.5t lifting crane have also been designed to meet the university testing requirement.

A sustainable solution

The facility has been designed as a ‘Smart Building’, allowing rooms to be controlled individually through the building management system. Levels of CO2 are monitored, with window and louvre vents opening automatically to draw fresh air into the naturally ventilated areas as demand requires.

Along with adding rainwater collection facilities, a significant solar panel array and a CHP District Heating Network connection, Hydrock engineering design focused on making the life cycle of the building as efficient as possible, creating long-term value.

Low carbon design principles, including natural ventilation and passive cooling, were adopted from the start of the design process to minimise the building’s carbon emissions.

The project team exceeded targets and expectations for energy and carbon reduction on this project, with regulated energy use. The MEP engineers achieved a very low ‘A’ rated EPC value, assisting UWE in reaching their target of a Display Energy Certificate (DEC) ‘B’ rating.