The Workshop project

Building:	Workshop Office Building
Campus location:	Gipsy Lane
Project Manager:	Capital Projects Team
Delivery date:	Phased (August and October 2009)
Budget:	To be confirmed
Users:	School of Built Environment and Directorate of Estates and Facilities Management

This building will provide accommodation to allow decanting of existing facilities and enable other space moves across the Headington Campus, essential to the site clearance activities for the main NSCB building project at Gipsy Lane. None of the proposed uses are new to the campus and some of the current buildings housing them have been identified on the University’s Masterplan, for demolition.

The building will be of mixed use with workshops on the ground floor and open plan offices on the first and second floors.

The building

Architectural Workshop  (Ground Floor)

The facility is provided for the benefit of undergraduate and post-graduates studying architecture. The workshop is used for the construction of architectural models, and installations and is a key component in the success of the architectural course at Oxford Brookes. The nature of the use requires good ventilation and day lighting. Co-locating the facility with the technology laboratory will provide greater flexibility in delivering courses within the school.

Technology Laboratory (Ground Floor)

The facility has a dual purpose. The facility is used both for teaching as well as research. The university has a number of contracts with international construction companies for research into areas as diverse as cladding systems to stress testing of components. Once again good ventilation and day lighting are critical as well as height in which to erect larger installations.

This area will have a purpose made, built in, crane to allow the School to move around materials and equipment.

Building Maintenance Workshop (Ground Floor)

The University has an in-house team of carpenters, electricians and plumbers who require relocating during the implementation of future phases of the master plan. The workshop space will provide part of that provision, accommodating one of these trades on a temporary or permanent basis.

Offices (First and Second Floors)

These offices will accommodate a significant part of Directorate of Estates and Facilities Management staff, thereby co-locating teams of staff currently spread across Headington Campus. Detailed space planning is currently in progress with an an anticipated move in of around October/November 2009.

Ancillary Accommodation

• Toilets
• Cyclist Changing/Shower Room

Sustainability

The new building has been designed to achieve a good level of environmental performance and sustainability. The physical constraint of the adjacent site boundary with Cheney School has placed restrictions on the amount of natural ventilation and daylighting achievable.

The building has been awarded a BREEAM  (Building Research Establishment Environmental Assessment Method) national ‘Very Good’ accreditation. This being the first new building at Headington Campus to be awarded a BREEAM accreditation.

The principal environment features of the new building can be summarised as follows, namely :-

• Good levels of natural day lighting whilst minimising adverse solar gains, by mainly north facing windows.
• Lighting controls to minimise energy consumption.
• Natural ventilation throughout, including night time cooling.
• Above average level of air tightness, thus minimising heat loss.
• Smart metering to allow the monitoring of energy use and to inform and educate building users.
• No suspended ceilings.
• Provision of a low maintenance sedum green roof (a first for the University), which can help insulate the building and mitigate rainwater run-off.
• BMS remote controlling of heating and ventilating to optimise energy management whilst maintaining good environmental conditions for building users.
• Cyclists changing facilities to promote green travel option.