Case Study: University of Surrey
26 February 2020
At the University of Surrey, we worked closely with the Project Board and the consultant design team to ensure that our project spearheaded the formation of the University’s new sustainability vision for their future developments.
During the initial briefing period, we held a Sustainability Vision Workshop bringing together the widest reaching stakeholder groups and consultant team members to explore what sustainability meant to the team. This included those who study and teach in the spaces and those who maintain the environmental systems.
In these open workshops, we used a process of ‘dot voting’ to establish the overlapping ideas and concerns of the entire team. These points then formulated the Sustainability Vision for the project going forward.
The design reflects the client’s sustainability aspirations for a low carbon construction and whole life costing, utilising a steel frame and CLT planks to reduce embodied carbon. The use of natural timber inside the building creates a connection to nature that also brings mental health and wellbeing benefits.
A number of passive measures are utilised to reduce the energy consumption of the building. Solar gain is minimised through deep reveals to openings on the south façade. Alongside this, the external brick cladding is brought through into the internal street which runs from east to west, providing thermal mass for moderating internal diurnal temperature changes. Daylighting is maximised, with north-facing accent saw tooth rooflights spanning the deeper plan social and group study spaces to the top floor.
TAGS Sustainability