ISG has been awarded an £8.5million contract for a sustainable student accommodation project by the University of Brighton. This will see the contractor build 147 student units on a brownfield site at the edge of the South Downs.
The contractor has been awarded Phase II of the university’s three-phase, £33 million Varley Park scheme, which involves demolition of two existing 1960s student accommodation blocks and the construction of three new BREEAM excellent rated replacements.
The design and build project sees ISG work with architects, HNW, to deliver a complete turnkey project, including all fixtures and furnishings within the rooms, with completion scheduled for September 2013.
Following demolition of the existing buildings, ISG will construct Slope House 2, Slope House 3 and Hill House 3 using pre-panelised steel framed superstructures to aid speed and ease of construction. The new buildings have been sympathetically designed to complement their surroundings with Slope House 2 and Slope House 3 incorporating green roofs, while Hill House 3 will have a hand-made clay tile roof.
All three buildings will be built into the landscape in a terraced arrangement with a mix of exterior architectural finishes including cladding, render, brickwork, tiling and trellising, and featuring both timber and composite windows.
The 147 unit scheme will provide en-suite student accommodation with shared kitchen and bathroom facilities. The three buildings will be linked to a new highly efficient energy centre, which will serve all three phases of the Varley Park upgrade as part of a key focus on sustainability.
ISG’s Ian Gifford – managing director – South East, commented: “This is a very demanding programme, which will see us deliver a complete turnkey project from demolition through to final fit out and furnishing.
“The scale and speed of the development and the live environment setting provides a range of challenges and we are utilising innovative technology, including BIM software to model the buildings and maximise base build efficiencies.
Increasingly, quality student accommodation on campus is business critical for universities and this project will demonstrate the high standards that can be achieved on a live campus within an accelerated time frame.”
