Pick Everard develops sustainable design for De Montfort University
Pick Everard is aiming for 18% renewable energy in its sustainable building-services strategy for the £36 million redevelopment of De Montfort’s University’s Fletcher complex, a new campus base in the centre of Leicester being created for the Faculty of Art, Design & Humanities. Construction is due to start in summer 2014, with the first phase scheduled for completion in September 2015.
The centrepiece of this £90 million campus investment programme is the 2-phase project for the Fletcher complex. It will involve the complete refurbishment of the Fletcher tower block, elements of the low-rise blocks, plus construction of a new building of over 12 000 m2 running from the tower down to the canal.
Features of the Pick Everard design include detailed façade design to control solar gain while providing good daylight levels. The low-carbon building-services design will employ low-energy solutions, minimising load and operation of building-services plant and systems. There will be a low-energy lighting strategy and automatic energy-saving controls. A mixed-mode ventilation system will exploit exposed thermal mass to minimise cooling loads.
John Thompson, building-services engineering director with Pick Everard, said, ‘We’re delighted to be working on the university’s latest project and to be responsible for the design of low-carbon-emission building-services solutions. This is a high-profile development project which will transform a key part of the university’s campus in Leicester city.’
