Sustainable Design

• Ysbyty Aneurin Bevan
• Centre for Ecology and Hydrology, Wallingford
• Gateway Sixth Form College, Leicester
• Alltwen Community Hospital, Porthmadog
• Treehouse National Centre for Autism Education
• Golden Jubilee Wing PFI, King's College Hospital
• John Bull Building, PMS Plymouth
• Redcar and Cleveland College
• Viking Day Unit, Margate
• Research Complex, Rutherford Appleton Laboratory

New Further Education Building, Redcar and Cleveland College

Nightingale Associates was appointed by Redcar and Cleveland College to design a new 12,000m2 state-of-the-art building to meet the needs of the College’s diverse and progressive curriculum. The new facilities provide a 21st Century education environment, transforming the students’ learning experience.

From inception, the building was designed to address an increasingly important environmental sustainability agenda. Many carefully-planned features, exceeding current building standards, were included to increase energy efficiency and reduce CO2 emissions:

• The external walls and roof are highly insulated, with the entire external perimeter fabric being tightly air-sealed to prevent warm air escaping.
• The orientation of the building and proportions of glazing were carefully calculated to make the most of natural light, while reducing the potential for heat loss on cold days, and heat gain on sunny days. All the window glazing is coated with a blue tint on the outside to reduce the effects of heat gain and glare from strong sunlight, and an invisible film on the inside reflects internal radiant heat back into the rooms on colder days.
• The building services use Combined Heat and Power (CHP) generation, supplying the building not only with heating but also electrical power. Additional electricity for power and lighting is generated from photo-voltaic ‘solar panels’.
• The main atrium and all the classrooms are designed to achieve the maximum benefit from natural ventilation.
• An innovative drainage system collects rainwater falling onto the roof of the building into a 40,000 litre underground tank, where it is filtered to supply inexpensive, recycled ‘grey’ water. Rainwater falling onto the car park runs through gaps in the special block paving and collects in a gravel attenuation bed below, to slowly percolate into the drains, minimising the risk of flooding during heavy rainfall.