New Student Centre update

The New Student Centre has been shortlisted for an award for sustainability and your vote could help edge it into the award-winning category before it even opens! So, in this Valentine’s Day update, here’s a call to show some love for the New Student Centre…

‘Your BREEAM’ is your chance to have your say and vote for your favourite building. There are more than 50 fantastic buildings from countries all over Europe, including the “UCL Student Centre”. If you’d like to vote for the NSC, please click on the link below and select it from the shortlist. And you can also tweet your support using #breeamawards. Please note it is one vote per person only!

Your BREEAM

 

About BREEAM

BREEAM is a globally-recognised sustainability assessment method for construction projects. In support of the ambitious targets in our institutional Sustainability Strategy, Carbon Management Plan and Sustainable Building Standards, UCL mandates the use of BREEAM on all new build and major refurbishment projects. Our minimum requirement is for an Excellent rating, in line with local planning requirements. For the New Student Centre, as a flagship building on a previously undeveloped site, an early decision was made to target the highest possible rating of ‘Outstanding’. Achieving a BREEAM Outstanding rating requires exemplar performance in all areas of the assessment, in terms of construction, energy consumption and wellbeing features within the building.  The NSC’s sustainable features include:

• Approximately 400m2 of photovoltaics or electric solar panels on the roof
• ‘Passive first’ approach to design based on highly efficient building fabric which helps to regulate temperature and minimize energy use
• Projected 35% reduction in building carbon emissions compared to Building Regulations requirements (Part L 2013)
• A ground source heat pump to cool the building in the summer;
• Windows which automatically open to naturally ventilate the building in the spring and autumn
• Efficient sanitary fittings will reduce water consumption by more than 50% compared to equivalent buildings
• Healthy and productive study spaces, optimising daylight, indoor air quality and providing a comfortable internal climate
• Highly durable materials will help to minimise resource use associated with maintenance and repairs
• Biodiversity enhancements include planting in the Japanese Garden and a green roof which will also have a positive influence on the microclimate

NSC Progress update

On Friday 16/02, the building’s topping-out ceremony will mark the stage where the building reaches the highest point of the construction, and will move into the final straight to prepare the building for its planned completion in December this year.

Discussions with the design team are ongoing to select the furniture within the building. There is agreement in principle for the individual study furniture, but we are still looking for suitably inspirational range to furnish the social learning spaces in the building and meet (or exceed!) student expectations.

Public art in the Student Centre

In other news, you may have seen the recent announcement that Turner Prize winning sculptor Rachel Whiteread is returning to UCL where she learned her craft to create an artwork that will be a centrepiece of the New Student Centre. Another commission has also been granted to Jon Thomson, a Professor of Fine Art at UCL Slade, and Alison Craighead, an artist and lecturer at Goldsmith’s, who will create a digital artwork that captures the essence of UCL as a global university with its multi-national and multicultural student and staff population.

For more details, please see the original story in UCL News.

 

And finally, a heads-up to let you know that Information Professional, CILIP’s magazine for the sector, is expected to publish a piece on the New Student Centre in April or May, as interest builds around this major new building for our students which will be managed by UCL Library Services.