Mulberry Schools Trust’s Post

🌟 12 days of Christmas! 🌟     🎄 DAY 8 Riverside Primary School We are delighted to share “Riverside Primary School”, for our Christmas project’s countdown! 🏫 Riverside Primary School in Perth is the first Passivhaus primary school to have been completed in Scotland.    As with every ‘first’, this project provided an opportunity to challenge preconceived ideas on how a Passivhaus building of this scale could be constructed and offered the team the opportunity to ‘go back to the drawing board’.    Through innovative design and thoughtful structural detailing, we were able to successfully demonstrate that Scotland’s well established supply chain and construction methods could be used to deliver a Passivhaus building. This opening up of the supply chain allowed the main contractor to provide a financially feasible scheme whilst meeting the requirements to gain Passivhaus accreditation.    This project also demonstrated that the inclusion of Passivhaus principles does not mean you have to fundamentally change the way we design our structure.    It was important to establish the requirements from each member of the Design Team and adjust our detailing to suit the needs of the project. From there, we were able apply our problem-solving skills to the questions of cost, material & skills availability within the market. The solution we arrived at champions clever detailing in collaboration with the wider project team.    All in all we achieved a successful outcome by delivering Scotland’s first Passivhaus Primary School, and the first steel framed Passivhaus Primary School in Britain.    Finally, whilst there was no specific embodied carbon target set for this project, through our internal sustainability initiative ‘Green Goodson’, we embraced Riverside Primary School as an opportunity to assess the project using the IStructE carbon tool and to provide benchmarking for our future projects.     Client: Hub East Central Scotland, Perth & Kinross Council  Architect: Architype Contractor: ROBERTSON CONSTRUCTION TAYSIDE LIMITED   #12daysofchristmas #projects #civilandstructuralengineer

🌟 12 days of Christmas! 🌟 As we kick off our festive countdown, we’re excited to highlight one of our standout projects! 🎄 DAY 1 BUILDING 1 & DRY LAB - UNIVERSITY OF ST ANDREWS, EDEN CAMPUS Goodson Associates was appointed in 2021 to undertake the Civil and Structural design of two linked projects for the Univerity of St Andrews at the Eden Campus in Guardbridge. The project involved two buildings, the first a refurbishment of the existing B Listed Building 1, a former mill bounding the Main Street in Guardbridge. The second building comprised construction of a new build, single storey steel framed dry lab building abutting Building 26, another of the Eden Mill campus properties. The Dry Lab, now known as the Colin Vincent Centre, is a world leader in the production of commercial-scale batteries and is a showcase for research in the vanguard of new battery chemistries at St Andrews. The Centre will power the next generation of batteries and energy storage through its state-of-the-art facilities such as its ultra-low humidity environment, the first of its kind in Scotland.  The buildings were completed successfully and handed over to the university in 2022. Client: University of St Andrews Contractor: ROBERTSON CONSTRUCTION TAYSIDE LIMITED  Architect: Oberlanders Architects 👉 Stay tuned for Day 2 of our festive countdown as we share more of our exciting 2024 projects! #12daysofchristmas #projects #university #civilandstructuralengineer

We are now on site at St Edmund Hall, the £35m, 127-bed #Passivhaus student accommodation in Oxford, delivering an energy-optimised scheme and marking a step forward in our expansion within the education sector. Led by Director Aaron McCarthy, we have already progressed the project from an inherited BSRIA Stage 4i to Stage 5, assuming design responsibility, refining spatial coordination, and providing additional value engineering to increase cost efficiencies. Collaborating with Dowds Group, SDC Builders Ltd and their design team Wright & Wright Architects and Price & Myers, we will soon be installing upgraded M&E services and a sustainable framework throughout the development Read more about the project here: https://lnkd.in/dGW3yUNg #passivhaus #PassivhausTrust #Oxford #sustainbleengineereing #University  Image credit: Wright & Wright Architects

We made the most of the recent good weather to shoot new aerial footage of the #Winchburgh School Campus, one of our largest education projects in recent years. DSSR was appointed to complete the full M&E Design of two school campuses, comprising 5 school facilities in total, as part of a project for Hub South East Scotland Limited on behalf of West Lothian Council. We also provided building performance and sustainability studies for all 5 buildings across the project’s two sites, Calderwood and Winchburgh. In order to minimise energy consumption and associated carbon emissions, there was a focus on making the building fabric’s performance as efficient as possible. This included having U-values and air permeability rates specified well below the backstop values noted in the Technical Standards to minimise building heat losses. Glazing elements were also selected to limit solar gain and reduce cooling demands. The building services have also been designed to help minimise energy usage and include features such as: LED lighting with automatic daylight & occupancy controls; high-efficiency heat reclaim on mechanical ventilation systems; the use of windcatchers in the Games Hall to minimise energy use while providing ventilation and free-cooling to the space; variable speed fans & pumps to reduce power consumption and the use of combined heat & power units to provide ‘free heat’ when generating electricity. Read more at https://lnkd.in/ex53uQ4r Morrison Construction / Ryder Architecture / jmarchitects / The Glenmhor Partnership LLP / Woolgar Hunter Engineers #mepdesign #mepservices

Scientists and engineers from Swansea University, the University of Exeter and the University of Bath are looking to cut emissions from the built environment by exploring a different approach to constructing tall buildings. The LOCAST (Low-Carbon Structures) project has received £1.2m in funding from UK Research and Innovation (UKRI). The team said that while tall buildings use urban space efficiently, constructing them has a high carbon cost compared to the same floor space spread across several shorter buildings. “We’re at a point where heating and lighting are so efficient that most of the lifetime climate emissions from any new building come from making the concrete, steel and glass that go into it,” Professor Ian Walker, an environmental psychologist from Swansea University, who co-authored the funding bid, said in a statement. “Using less of these materials in tall buildings would put a big dent in the emissions from the built environment. But to do this, we need to understand how making tall buildings more lightweight would affect the people inside them.” Read more here 👇 https://lnkd.in/enSBKj3i #theengineer #LOCAST #lowcarbon #construction #civil #engineering

A great way to end 2024! We’re thrilled to see our work on the transformation of YY London featured as the cover image in the latest issue of the ICE’s Civil Engineering Journal, published by Emerald Publishing This project in the heart of #CanaryWharf showcases the critical role of #constructionengineering in sustainable building reuse. McGee retained and reused much of the original composite-framed structure of 30 South Colonnade, dramatically reducing the project’s embodied CO₂ equivalent (CO₂e) – a further step towards achieving UN Sustainable Development Goal 12: Responsible Consumption and Production. Our work tackled unique challenges, including disconnecting several bays of original bracing, staged construction of temporary stability, and adapting to decisions made decades ago when the structure was first designed. By combining expertise in temporary works, construction sequencing, and structural refurbishment, we delivered a highly sustainable modern workspace ready for the future. Proud to have collaborated with our partners @quadrant and Oaktree Capital Management, L.P. and grateful to the Institution of Civil Engineers and Emerald and the ICE for recognising the importance of this work. Congratulations to the McGee team for authoring this paper – a testament to the power of engineering innovation, construction engineering and collaboration. #temporaryworks #embodiedcarbon #sustainability #buildingreuse #civilengineering Institution of Civil Engineers (ICE) #UNSDG12

🗞️ News: Galliford Try wins Scottish school work Galliford Try will unveil a year-end trading update next month after the firm this morning said it had won a £69m school scheme in Scotland. The listed contractor will unveil its year-end update on 11 July for the 12 months ending 30 June. Last month, the firm said it was targeting an industry-beating 4% margin by 2030 and expected turnover to jump by £800m to £2.2bn under its 2030 growth strategy. Source: Building Magazine #BuildingServices #BuildingDesign #BuildingEngineering #CIBSE #BuildingServicesRecruitment #MEP #MEPEngineering #MEPEngineer #Rics #PropertyDesign #architecture #Construction #Urban #Design #Engineering #BuildingPerformance #fire #Sustainability #VT #VerticalTransportation #Fire #FireEngineering #RealEstate #HouseBuilding #London #MEPDesign #CIOB #Property #TheBuildingServicesPodcast #BuildingPodcast #BuildingServicesBlog

Robertson Construction Central West is onsite to deliver its third project for the University of Glasgow, a £12.6m upgrade to the library’s annexe.   As Regional Managing Director Andy McLinden says: “this project represents a significant step in our ongoing partnership with the University of Glasgow. It involves the integration of advanced building technologies to enhance energy performance and user comfort.”    The exterior of the library will be fully renewed, with roof coverings and wall cladding replaced with modern materials to increase energy efficiency. Along with improvements to ventilation, heating and cooling systems, and an increase in natural light – the building is set to deliver a healthier learning environment for university staff and students.    Currie & Brown | HLM Architects | WSP | Currie & Brown    #Construction #education #sustainability  

SECTOR FIRST IN SUSTAINABILITY | Scape Leicester Scape Australia Leicester is making history as the first Purpose-Built Student Accommodation in Australia to achieve a 6-Star Green Star rating under the Green Building Council of Australia's rigorous framework. This 14-storey, all-electric, 100% renewable-powered building sets a new benchmark for sustainability in student housing, providing an eco-friendly, future-ready environment for students. Our partnership with Scape, Australia’s largest owner and operator of PBSA, and the collaboration of industry-leading trade partners and suppliers, has pushed the boundaries of what’s possible in green construction. This milestone is not just a win for us but for the future of the entire construction industry. Learn how we achieved this with Scape and what it means for future developments: https://lnkd.in/gBjb7HEU Architect: BayleyWard Architect (Interiors): VIA Architects // Project Manager: Newbridge Building Surveyor: Codus Building Surveyors Services Engineer: WRAP Consulting Engineering Fire Engineer: WSP in Australia Façade Engineer: BG&E Structural Engineer: INNOVIS Consulting Landscape Engineer: Human Habitats #architecture #constructionlife #projectmanagement #ConstructionManagement #Engineering #ConstructionIndustry #constructioncompany #Construction #constructionsite #building #Melbourne #TheKapitolWay #civilengineering #KapitolGroup #constructionwork #constructionequipment #Scape #GreenStar #Sustainabilityt

With the new building regulations driving up standards to build more energy efficient homes we were pleased to be joined by a group of Level 3 Carpentery students from Coleg Ceredigion yesterday. The focus of their training was to learn about Airtightness and Insulation. Led by Ian Brown, senior lecturer in Sustainable Construction in the UWTSD Architecture, Construction, and Environment (ACE) they were introduced to the importance and relevance of creating airtight buildings (lowering energy costs, improving comfort and energy efficiency for example). In a 'putting theory into practice' session they were given a range of tapes and membranes to experience what's involved in ensuring airtightness using rigs. This could become a role they champion on the building site in future! Whilst with us they also considered the benefits of using low carbon insulation materials such as wood fibre which was used to introduce the concepts of U-values, thermal conductivity and permeability. See what Dion Phillips made of his visit to us. This training is the start of a series of constructive (in more than one way) training courses blending theory with practice as part of our Not Business As Usual project. For information about the short courses available visit https://bit.ly/3Z3mLIh. #learningbydoing Huw Thomas Gareth Evans Professor Rhian Jenkins University of Wales Trinity Saint David Swansea Bay City Deal - Bargen Ddinesig Bae Abertawe #sustainableconstruction