The New Humanities Building at the University of Manchester houses the Social Sciences and Environment and Development schools, and accommodates teaching rooms, laboratories and open plan and cellular office space.
The project team consisted of Fairhursts Design Group as architects, Buro Happold as structural engineers and DSSR as services engineers.
The University wanted a building that displayed their commitment towards sustainability and the environment. The design team worked closely from the concept design stage to deliver on these expectations, and several of the building's design features demonstrate this success. The structure of the building is predominantly concrete, which is left exposed in most areas in order to be used as a night time pre-cooling mass in summer and as a heat sink in winter. At the heart of the building is a generous atrium, where a natural stack-effect is created - warm air rises and pulls fresh air into the building through the office windows. The excess warm air is vented to the outside through louvres at high level in the atrium and via the plant room, where some heat recovery occurs. The building has over 200 roof-mounted photovoltaic cells – the second largest surface area for any building in the entire city of Manchester.
During the construction phase, off-site manufacturing was maximised – pre-glazed windows were fitted to panels which also had insulation bonded to the rear prior to being installed. This minimised high-risk activities, such as working at height, eliminated external scaffolding and significantly reduced site waste.
BACK TO PROJECTS LIST
Location
Oxford Road, Manchester
Client
University of Manchester
Architect
Fairhursts Design Group
Contract Value
£22m
Completion
2007