THE SKILLS XCHANGE THUNDERHEAD RIDGE, GLASSHOUGHTON

Transcription

1 THUNDERHEAD RIDGE, GLASSHOUGHTON

2 THE LOCATION WAKEFIELD COLLEGE -. After an extensive search Wakefield college selected the award winning Glasshoughton regeneration site as the destination for their new Skills Xchange. Nestled between the communities of Castleford and Pontefract, close to Junction 32 of the M62, and having the benefit of the new rail halt the Glasshoughton site was ideally located to serve their student community. The mixed use nature of the site was also considered to be a major plus to the student community. Glasshoughton was once a thriving colliery and coke works. Surface coal was first extracted in 1570 and in 1793 a colliery was started. Deep mining began with the opening of Glasshoughton Colliery in But in 1978 the coke works closed and the colliery followed in Hundreds of workers lost their jobs and the area was devastated. After the buildings were demolished the site lay derelict for almost 10 years.the historic uses left a legacy of environmental problems including instability and contaminated land compounded by pollution of the ground and surface water, with dereliction visible over a wide area. In 1991 Wakefield Council designated the site a special policy area recognizing the need for redevelopment. Waystone Limited submitted a proposal to the council and English Partnerships the Government s regeneration body in 1994 and the site clean up and civil engineering works got underway in Over the following years Waystone went about the task of cleaning up the site, stabilizing the ground and constructing the vital infrastructure which all enabled the site to be brought back into use and this task was largely complete by Further reclamation works took place on land to the south of the railway when an innovative engineering solution enabled the former slurry lagoons which added 30 acres of development land to the 120 acres of development land North of the Railway line. By 2008 a substantial amount of Development had been delivered at Glasshoughton including 250,000 sqft of Factory outlet shopping, 400,000 sqft of Leisure Mountain incorporating real snow skiing, cinemas, bowling, heath and fitness amongst other uses, 17 acres of housing, a new rail halt, a 119 bed hotel, numerous restaurants, offices and industrial units. During 2008 Wakefield college added to the mix by choosing a prominent 9 acre plot within the Glasshoughton Development as the site to develop a brand new state of the art Skills Xchange adding further to the sites diversity. The 9 acre plot is located adjacent to the newly constructed coalfields link road having a strong presence to the roundabout which commemorates the history of the mine in the form of a dramatic modern wheel of light.

3 1960 A Working Colliery 1998 During the Reclamation Works Skills Xchange under construction 2010 The Completed Skills Xchange

4 THE VISION WAKEFIELD COLLEGE -. Wakefield College aims to provide cutting edge training facilities, for both individuals and businesses to meet the skills challenges of the 21st century. The Vision has taken a step closer to reality with the completion of the Skills Xchange, the college s state-of-the-art, iconic new learning facility at Glasshoughton. College Principal, Sue Griffiths, as Project Champion has been heavily involved in the development of the skills Xchange since its planning stages some six years ago, when, in consultation with teachers from across the District, it was agreed that young people in the North East of the Wakefield District should have the opportunity to pursue whatever skills road they wanted to follow. A brief was established and tested with a team of professionals and the various Stake holders. As the process progressed Sue and her team guided the design development and the site identification through the OJEU process. Waystone were chosen as the Developer and Contractor to deliver the vision and the building designs were developed further to address the site environment and create the iconic Campus of the early drawings. In order to aid the visualisation of the spaces a 3d model and movie was developed to assist in the understanding of the interrelated spaces and how these spaces would be beneficial to the 2,500 students and 300 Staff who the Campus has been designed to house.

5 The Western Entrance Elevation The Learning and Resource Centre The Cafe and relaxation space The Eastern elevation- birds eye view

6 TAKING SHAPE WAKEFIELD COLLEGE -. The Project Wakefield College Skills Xchange is a 13,450m², 4 storey, vocational skills college which forms part of Waystone's 335-acre regeneration site off J32 of the M62. The Skills Xchange comprises a state of the art skills vocational training campus for Wakefield College. The building design embodies the key principles of flexibility and sustainability, and the creation of architecture and interior environments that are both aesthetically pleasing and environmentally comfortable to experience. Natural light, solar shading, maximising natural ventilation and super insulation all play a part in achieving this. The iconic design for Wakefield College Skills Xchange includes many sustainable design features to include maximising natural ventilation and day light with a super insulated cladding construction. Roof light and natural lighting features are combined with passive ventilation voids and other energy saving features. This project comprises the delivery of high technology design, to a fixed budget which is flexible, serviceable and sustainable. The accommodation comprises the college's provision of teaching spaces for Construction, Motor Vehicle Engineering, Engineering, Hair and Beauty, IT and Care and Public Services. Specialist Mechanical and Electrical supply and environmental services, interior fitting out and equipment layouts are coordinated to provide a state of the art vocational skills based college facility. Layout The triangular building plan form was developed in response to the site, maximising interior floor area. The roof falls in a continuous rake at three degrees creating dramatic elevations, culminating in a glazed apex facing North to Leeds road. This creates an iconic architectural statement for both the site and Wakefield College, and has become a land mark approach. The interior accommodation is set out over 4 floors that reduce in area in response to the inclined roof over. This provides opportunity for strategic placing of rooflight openings to provide top day light deep into the interior spaces, minimising the need for artificial lighting. The interior arrangement is laid out to take advantage of this, with motor vehicle, and engineering workshops on the lower floors within the wings, with teaching spaces and academic offices set out on the upper floors. The Learning Resource Centre is located within the centre of the triangle at the heart of the scheme, set in a capacious full height 14m high room. The LRC is top lit, with a dramatic roof light feature, and incorporates an arching bridge link at first floor level through the space.

7 EVENING VIEW OF THE ENTRANCE APEX ENTRANCE APPROACH FROM THE EAST ENTRANCE APPROACH FROM THE WEST VIEW OF EXTERNAL COURT YARD ACCESS FROM THE LEARNING RESOURCE CENTRE AREA

8 TAKING SHAPE WAKEFIELD COLLEGE -. Further kidney shaped floor void features are incorporated into the scheme at the entrance, culminating in a trodial glazed roof light supplying passive air distribution and maximising the penetration of natural light through the interior space. Innovation This project involved many innovative and unique design details, including the development of the truncated triangular roof claddings and trodial glazed roof light structures and internal light wells, required to fall on a continuous three degree incline, over 160m in length. We hope the imagery supplied with this text provides some idea of the innovation in design required in delivery of this iconic building. Design Principles The building design comprises a steel frame, structure with pad base foundations, and a ground bearing slab. The ground floor is split level with a 3.5m retaining wall structure, to include below ground plant rooms. Upper floors are constructed in pre stressed concrete planks, providing thermal mass heat sinks. Open grid ceilings are utilised to gain benefit of the thermal mass, with passive ventilation, voids that link between floors and areas, distributing and maximising this benefit. The elevations are developed in composite panel cladding system, set on cladding rails, with areas of insulated rain screen render walls. The curtain wall glazing includes screen openings and semi structural glazing assemblies. The roof is a dominant coordinating design feature and is developed with an acoustic perforated structural deck to control internal reverberation and is finished with a super insulated standing seam roof system. The roof falls at a continuous three degree incline over 160m requiring a provision of approximately 300mm of expansion over its length. At the junction of the external walls meeting the roof projection, non perforated decking is fixed to achieve an air tight detail.

9 LOOKING DOWN FROM THE LEARNING RESOURCE CENTRE CAFETERIA RELAXATION AREA UPPER LEVEL ACCESS DOWN INTO THE LEARNING RESOURCE CENTRE LOOKING ACROSS THE LEARNING RESOURCE CENTRE AT THE LINKING BRIDGE

10 TAKING SHAPE WAKEFIELD COLLEGE -. Fenestration The elevational treatment is developed to maximise, the benefit of natural light deep into the building interior accommodation, and transparency upon approaching the building. This provides a dramatic effect when illuminated at night. The natural light is shared through the interior by strategic placing of interior glazed screens. The elevation glazing includes actuated opening lights that are controlled on air temperature and humidity sensors, providing natural ventilation, into the majority of the cellular spaces minimising the need for mechanical ventilation in the scheme. Solar shading louvers are provided to the glazing to minimise and control peak solar gain. Solar glass sealed glazing units with argon filled cavities are used to maximise solar gain control, and U-value efficiencies. All glazing and cladding construction interface junctions are developed to maximise air tightness to include sealed back joining plates and membranes. Further solar shading is provided to the fenestration glazing by the over sailing roof feature. Acoustic isolation detailing is provided within the glazing structure at each floor level to improve acoustic security. Coordinated Development Team Approach To maximise the opportunity for continuous improvement and efficiencies, key stage periodic design reviews were implemented including design team, client, partnering contractor and wider supply chain participation. This maximised the exposure of the design across the supply chain and developed opportunity for adding value in the broadest sense, delivering efficiencies in construction of the design on site, and in delivering best value for Wakefield College. This process also enabled the design concept and detail development of the design to be reviewed against the key client project objectives to ensure these were met. This included review of the design concept, considering sustainability, the selection of robust materials, cost and the detailing of scheme design, to consider safe construction, lifecycle costs and maintenance, and sustainability in its broadest sense. Collaborative Working This project represents the complete delivery of a sophisticated, intelligent building and interior design, achieved through a managed process including designers, contractors and client working collaboratively as a cohesive team to successfully deliver the clients key objective of design excellence. This included coordination of many specialist designers inputs, and the production and coordination of sequenced tender and construction information packages. This included inputs from the extended development and supply chain team, under the management of Waystone.

11 MAIN ENTRANCE LEVEL AND ACCESS TO EASTERN ELEVATION HIGH LEVEL CONFERENCE ROOM WITH PANORAMIC VIEWS ACROSS THE SITE MOTOR VEHICLE ENGINEERING WORKSHOP LINEAR ROOF LIGHT OVER THE LEARNING RESOURCE CENTRE