Operon appointed for two multi-million-pound projects at The Manchester College
M&E consultants Operon Design have been appointed to two multi-million-pound projects for The Manchester College.
The first is the £10 million phase two of the restoration and redevelopment of the Grade 2 listed Harpurhey Swimming Baths.
The other is a £20 million visitor centre that is intended to be carbon-neutral in operation and a training facility for low-energy sustainable-construction technologies at the college’s planned Brownley Road site.
The Harpurhey Swimming Baths, designed by Henry Price, will be sympathetically converted to provide 21st-century facilities, including exhibition space, performing-arts hall, cafe bar and general classrooms for further education and use by the local community. Work is due for completion early in 2010.
Operon is working with planners, building control and English Heritage, to return the 1500 m2 building to its former glory and achieve a BREEAM ‘very good’ rating. Sustainable and low-energy solutions include rainwater recovery, heat recovery, very high-efficiency heating system, natural ventilation and daylight-controlled lighting.
The visitor centre and training facility is to be BREEAM ‘excellent’ rated and include technologies such as rainwater harvesting and ground-source heat pumps served by boreholes.
Both projects will be monitored by Genex, Operon’s environmental and energy-management division.
