The University of Oxford’s Earth Sciences building has won the Sustainability and Community Benefit Award at the Institution of Civil Engineers (ICE) Thames Valley Engineering Excellence Awards 2011. Earth Sciences was a joint winner of the award alongside the Aylesbury Theatre. The awards celebrate the best civil engineering projects in the region and were presented at Dorney Lake, Windsor on 17 June.
Hoare Lea was behind the MEP design and also provided acoustics, lighting and fire engineering advice.
The Department of Earth Sciences at the University of Oxford is a leading centre for geological research. This £29.5 million development provides the department with a major new teaching and research facility. The modern structure has sufficient light and space to accommodate 400 students and staff, and is split between a five storey office and teaching block and a four storey specialist laboratory, linked by an impressive atrium entrance.
Key features include a metal-free geochemistry laboratory suite, extensive services diversions and a ground source heat pump installation, providing 61% of the building’s heating requirement and 94% of the building’s cooling requirement. An impressive 17% reduction in carbon emissions is the result. Natural ventilation to help in regulating the temperature, the use of recycled rainwater for flushing toilets and a green roof were amongst other important design features.
For more information on the awards, click here.
