COMMENDATION – Clarice Pears Building, Institute of Health and Wellbeing, Glasgow

A braced steel framed structure is home to five research groups, transforming the client’s ability to develop interdisciplinary work.

FACT FILE
Architect: AtkinsRéalis
Structural engineer: AtkinsRéalis
Main contractor: Multiplex
Client: University of Glasgow

Incorporating a number of sustainable features, such as roof-mounted PV panels, a steel-framed solution was the chosen solution for a building that needed to be lightweight, efficient and have minimal internal columns.

The Institute of Health and Wellbeing develops research on disease prevention alongside improvements to health and wellbeing, and reducing associated inequalities.

The Clarice Pears Building brings together the Institute’s different research groups under one roof, with a structural design that encourages collaborative engagement.

The building’s ground floor, known as street level, is said to have been designed as a marketplace, where social, learning and gathering spaces create informal work zones interlaced with teaching hubs.

Above this area is the spatial town square of the building. A four-storey internal atrium, which is pierced by overlapping planes of collaborative space that link research groups together.

According to AtkinsRéalis, the use of a steel-framed solution has allowed the scheme to be lightweight (in comparison to a concrete frame) and have an efficient foundation design consisting of piles tied together with reinforced concrete pile caps and ground beams.

The architectural vision of long-spanning areas with minimal internal columns alongside complex projecting cantilevering balconies around the atrium, was also achieved through the use of structural steelwork.

A mix of shallow steel beams and deeper cellular members were used, enabling services to be easily coordinated under the beam soffits or through the beam penetrations.

A detailed coordination using a BIM Level 2 model was undertaken to ensure that primary and secondary service routes did not clash with the steel frame members.

“The design of the building was developed with a passive approach to sustainability and energy conservation,” says AtkinsRéalis Project Engineer David Mayne.

“Low and zero carbon technologies were implemented within the structure, which included fabric and form that were optimised in order to maximise the potential.”

Heating is provided via the University’s CHP led district heating network, while LED lighting and the PV panels, throughout the building, help offset the electricity demand.

Another sustainable aspect of the design was developed around reducing consumption and waste by increasing the durability of the used materials in the heavily trafficked areas of the building. The design was developed to select construction elements – including the steelwork – that can be readily disassembled and recycled in the future.

All of the major plant equipment can be easily replaced during the lifespan of the building, as floor and wall panels can easily be removed without affecting the structural integrity of the scheme.

Summing up, the judges say the building encourages open community engagement concerning health inequalities at street level, while the triangular gridded form generates connections between floor levels around an attractive and welcoming atrium. Team collaboration led to efficient design, fabrication and erection where sustainability, potential adaptability and design for end of life was a central consideration.