Jubilee Campus (University of Nottingham)

The Jubilee Campus regenerates a linear brownfield site, which was originally covered in factory buildings.

Responding to the only remaining feature, a belt of trees shielding housing to one side, a serpentine lake was created through the site. A pedestrian route, leading from the University’s playing fields to the original campus, follows the line of the lake, along which are ranged the principal Faculty buildings, a Learning Resource Centre and a central Teaching building.

A colonnade on the front of the buildings forms the pedestrian route through the site. It has views out over the lake and gardens, but also engages with the restaurants, shops and atria meeting places at ground floor level. Above are the faculty rooms. The shape of the free-standing, circular Learning Resource Centre and the conical lecture halls, proclaim their importance. Halls of Residence have more privacy, those for undergraduates adopt a traditional courtyard layout, while the postgraduate residence is crescent shaped.

A low-pressure drop ventilation system uses corridors and stair towers as air plenums, reducing the energy needed to circulate air. Under normal conditions specially designed chimneys create adequate wind effect; during hot weather, photo-voltaic cells on the atrium roofs generate supplementary power for the fan driven ventilation. Such ideas attracted the largest ever Thermie Grant from the European Union, and the buildings are estimated to be 60% more energy efficient than those on the University Park campus. The project recently won an RIBA Sustainability Award.

Key features of the site:

• Organisation: Micro climate landscaping; Pedestrian segregation from traffic; Recycling rainwater into new lake
• Built form: The site is comprised of narrow buildings facing east-west, with glazed atriums, oriented south-west, acting as buffer spaces.
• Passive cooling: Exposed concrete soffits aids thermal mass cooling, aided by evaporative cooling of exhaust air.
• Facade: External cladding is a highly insulated timber and recycled newspaper panel system, and cladding and windows are made in western red cedar from a sustainable source
• Lighting: Sensors activate highly efficient lights to minimise the use of artificial lighting, reducing energy consumption and heat gain.
• Ventilation/heat recovery: The super-efficient mechanical ventilation system uses a low-pressure system centred on a high-efficiency thermal wheel to recycle heat or cool. No re-circulated air is used.
• Photovoltaics: BP solar monocrystalline cells are integrated into the atrium roofs to provide shade, while offsetting fan power.
• Wind: Tracking wind cowls are integrated at the head of each stair tower to assist stack ventilation.
• Cost: £30million over an area of 45,000sqm
• Energy consumption: 83.6 kWh per annum/sqm