Lancaster University building is BREEAM ‘Outstanding’
Lancaster Institute for the Contemporary Arts (LICA) has become the first higher-education building to be rated ‘Outstanding’ for the BREEAM environmental-performance measure for both the design stage and post-construction review. As building-services engineer and BREEAM assessor, Hoare Lea worked closely with the client, Lancaster University and the project team, including architect Sheppard Robson, to achieve a final BREEAM score of 85.16%.
The £10 million building comprises 5000 m2 on three floors.
Reducing energy demand was central to the design. The prefabricated timber construction provides high levels of air tightness and contributes to low U-values. The design also includes solar PV on the roof and rainwater harvesting, both with live information displays in reception. Sanitary fittings have low water consumption, and the project includes energy sub-metering, lighting controls, displacement ventilation, 75%-efficient thermal-wheel energy recovery and a link to the campus heating.
