Project: INTO Academic Building, University of Exeter

Client: INTO

Value: £7.4m

Contract: JCT 1998 Design & Build

Duration: 56 weeks

Awards:

Building of the Year in the Michelmores Commercial Property Awards

Considerate Constructors - Site Awards

Bronze

A new international study centre located in the heart of the University of Exeter’s Streatham Campus. This is a 4,000m2 R.C. frame building, built over three floors, with a combination of glazed and masonry elevations. internally the building features an elliptical central circulation core, computer
floors and exposed concrete soffits.  The state of the art centre has been designed to complement the architecture of some of the University of Exeter’s more modern buildings providing eco-friendly and
exciting environments for students.  The building offers first rate facilities that include:- large reception area, offices, teaching classrooms, multi-purpose lecture theatres, it and multimedia centres, learning
resource centres and a cafe. Natural daylight is provided by a three-storey glazed climate wall which fronts onto central campus, providing transparency and dialogue for the building's occupants.  During the Pre-construction phase we worked through the design to value engineer the costs down to a level acceptable to the client. This included, Post-tender:
• redesigned the basement which obviated the need to close the main site road running through campus and reduced inconvenience and cost to the client
• redesigned the drainage which resulted in the avoidance of a major road closure on campus and additionally greatly reduced impact to a tree-protection zone
• designed out roof screed which saved time on programme and facilitated a more robust design
• changed service routes to greatly simplify incoming mains which reduced disruption on campus and saved the client money.
• changed the design of the climate wall structure to eliminate a large amount of secondary steel structure
the project is designed to achieve BREEAM very good’ rating.

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