Building a Better Northumbria
Following on from the successful completion of previous Phases we have successfully delivered the Student Central building at Northumbria University.
The works were in the City Centre location with restricted access where we had to build our way back to the entrance of the site as the fabric of the building and the extensive external works on the project were land locked on three sides.
There was structural steelwork and specialist glazing works which had to be delivered to a very tight site entrance utilising rigid vehicles as the use of articulated delivery vehicles was not possible with the erection of steelwork and the installation of the glazing of the structure being progressed from the furthest point on the building and working back towards the site entrance.
There were a number of existing features (artwork) that had to be protected throughout the works.
The works included substantial demolition works to an existing two storey admin / library building and the remodelling over the two levels to create a more open, airy facility to improve the student’s experience whilst on the campus. The gross floor area of the building was increased and a new lightwell was formed to allow light to cascade down through the centre of the building on both the ground and first floors.
A new steel canopy was formed and new curtain walling was provided to all elevations. The new curtain walling had to be designed to a G factor of 0.4 and 0.48 to reduce the solar gain within the new building footprint.
The internal fit out was ready for the students to use when they returned to the campus on11th September 2017. The external works were progressed in tandem with the internal fit out and were handed over to the client in a phased manner to ensure safe access was available into and out of the new facility at the end of Sept 17 with overall completion of the external works achieved by mid November 2017.
