No 6294
Wednesday 23 January 2013
Vol cxliii No 17
pp. 312–335
The Council begs leave to report to the University as follows:
1. In this Report the Council is seeking approval in principle for the refurbishment and alteration of the Arup Building on the New Museums Site as set out below.
2. The Arup Building is located on the eastern side of the New Museums Site, adjacent to Corn Exchange Street and between the Department of Zoology Building and the Corn Exchange. It was completed in 1971 to the designs of Sir Philip Dowson of architects Arup Associates. It has an approximate gross internal area of 16,000 m2 and a net useable area of approximately 9,200 m2 with existing accommodation for the Department of Zoology, the Museum of Zoology, the Department of Materials Science and Metallurgy, the University Computing Service (UCS), the High Performance Computing Service, and the Babbage Lecture Theatre.
3. The Arup Building consists of: a main block, clad in pre-cast concrete, lead and glass; two structurally independent but linked towers, also clad in glass and lead; and a brick-clad annex which is contiguous with the Department of Zoology building. Though well maintained, the building suffers from a number of significant problems typical of buildings of its era and style. These include extremely inefficient energy use, low levels of comfort for users, technical problems with the roof and glazing, and a raised podium which is unattractive, under-used, and difficult to access.
4. The Department of Materials Science and Metallurgy, the current principal occupants of the building, will be moving to the Department’s new building on the West Cambridge Site during 2013. The servers of the University Computing Service and the High Performance Computing Service require more appropriate space and will be relocated in 2013 and the UCS will move to be co-located with the Management Information Services Division on the West Cambridge Site. A total of 5,200 m2 of net useable area will be relinquished. This provides an opportunity to carry out major improvements and upgrades to the services and fabric of the entire building which will optimize the building as an asset for the future, provide updated accommodation for new and existing uses, and improve the podium and its problematic relationship to the surrounding built context.
5. The space vacated by the Department of Materials Science and Metallurgy, the University Computing Service, and the High Performance Computing Service equipment on the upper floors of the Arup building will be converted to adaptable office accommodation for occupation by the Cambridge Conservation Initiative (CCI). The founder members of the CCI are: the University of Cambridge, Birdlife International, the British Trust for Ornithology, Flora, and Fauna International, the International Union for Conservation of Nature, the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds, the Tropical Biology Association, TRAFFIC, and UNEP World Conservation Monitoring Centre. The members will occupy varying amounts of space, depending on the number of staff they will be locating in the building, and those organizations that are not a part of the University will become tenants. Approximately three hundred and sixty workstations will be available for tenants initially, though the internal layout will be adaptable for changing patterns of occupation.
6. The current isolation of the raised podium will be addressed by the creation there of a new entrance to the CCI accommodation, a new café, for use by all members of the University and visiting members of the public, linked to a new foyer to the Museum of Zoology. Access will be improved through the simplification of the level changes on the podium by the introduction of new external lifts and by two new external stairs, one that will link the podium with Corn Exchange Street and another that will rise to the podium from near the entrance to the New Museum Site, by the archway leading off of Pembroke Street.
7. The vacated areas in the lower ground floor currently occupied by the Department of Materials Science and Metallurgy will be converted to use as additional stores for the Museum of Zoology and as a Facilities Management base for the whole of the New Museums Site. The new Museum stores will allow controlled public access to a much higher proportion of the collections and free up space in the existing part of the Museum for a new Education Room and a new School Room in support of public education and outreach programmes. The Facilities Management base, which will lead directly off the existing loading bay on Corn Exchange Street, is a part of proposals being developed to control vehicular access to the New Museums Site.
8. The proposals for the work to the Arup Building are being developed so as to make the building as sustainable as possible within the constraints of the existing building and budget. This will be achieved through a bespoke ‘sustainability framework’ developed by specialist consultants working with Estate Management and the Cambridge Conservation Initiative. Particular efforts are being made to ensure that sustainable design is carried through in a measureable way into sustainable occupancy of the building. The work to the building will significantly improve its energy efficiency and reduce carbon emissions.
9. The Planning and Resources Committee approved the Full Case for the refurbishment of the Arup Building on 13 July 2011. The total cost of the building proposals is currently estimated to be approximately £59.6m including VAT payable at the standard rate of 20% on the whole project. The Finance Division is looking at the amount of VAT that it will be possible to reclaim. Funding will be provided by donations, the Capital Fund, and a Chest loan to be repaid with rental income from the Cambridge Conservation Initiative tenant organizations.
10. Further details relating to the design, maintenance, recurrent costs, and funding arrangements will be brought to future meetings of the Buildings Committee and the Planning and Resources Committee. A Second-stage Report will be published later this year to gain approval for implementation of the project.
11. Drawings of the proposals are displayed for the information of the University in the Schools Arcade; a location plan of the Arup Building is shown below.
12. The Council recommends:
I. That approval in principle be given for the construction works outlined in this Report.
II. That the Director of Estate Management be authorized to apply for detailed planning approval in due course.
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21 January 2013 |
L. K. Borysiewicz, Vice-Chancellor |
Fiona Karet |
Susan Oosthuizen |
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N. Bampos |
F. P. Kelly |
Rachael Padman |
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Charles Bell |
Robert Lethbridge |
Shirley Pearce |
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Jeremy Caddick |
Mark Lewisohn |
John Shakeshaft |
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Athene Donald |
Rebecca Lingwood |
Sam Wakeford |
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I. M. Le M. Du Quesnay |
Mavis McDonald |
I. H. White |
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Nicholas Gay |
Rosalyn Old |
A. D. Yates |
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Andy Hopper |
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Location map: Arup Building, New Museums Site, Cambridge
The Council begs leave to report to the University as follows:
1. A First-stage Report on the construction of a new building for the Department of Chemical Engineering and Biotechnology was submitted to the Regent House on 30 June 2012 (Reporter, 6273, 2011–12, p. 761) and approved by Grace 2 of 17 October 2012. This Second-stage Report is to update the Regent House on further development of the scheme and to seek approval for construction to proceed.
2. As stated in the First-stage Report the proposed new building for the Department of Chemical Engineering and Biotechnology (CEB) is on the West Cambridge Site between the Institute for Manufacturing and the Department of Materials Science, south of Charles Babbage Road, as shown on the plan below.
3. The new building, which will have a gross internal area of 10,437 m2, will provide state of the art facilities for research and teaching in a single location. Considerable efficiency benefits, therefore, are expected. The key aims of the project are:
• to encourage greater interaction and interdisciplinary working;
• to provide facilities in a safe working environment which are better suited to current research;
• to provide flexible space that can be adapted, in the future, as requirements change;
• to create a building that will facilitate teaching, learning, and research in a pleasant environment;
• to create a centre for CEB with a distinctive presence at West Cambridge.
4. The building will include biology, chemistry, and engineering research laboratories which have demanding vibration, acoustic, and electromagnetic environmental needs, in addition to providing for a very extensive teaching programme.
5. In accordance with the Capital Projects Process, a Full Case was prepared by the Department and subsequently approved by the Planning and Resources Committee at their meeting of 4 July 2012. It is estimated that the annual running costs of the new building will be approximately £153 a square metre, (a decrease of £24 a square metre on existing charges) based on the attribution of indirect costs, which cover such items as utilities and maintenance. These costs will be met from funds available to the University.
6. The total cost of the project has been estimated at £60m. Funding of £60m has been confirmed from the Capital Fund, the School of Technology, and the Department of Chemical Engineering and Biotechnology for the purpose of completing the design and construction works. The project cost is based on a start on site in mid-2013 with completion in mid-2015. Planning consent for the construction of the building was granted by the Cambridge City Council on 3 December 2012.
7. Drawings of the proposed scheme are displayed for the information of the University in the Schools Arcade.
8. The Council recommends:
I. That approval is confirmed for the construction of a new building at West Cambridge for the Department of Chemical Engineering and Biotechnology as proposed in this Report.
II. That the Pro-Vice-Chancellor (Planning and Resources) be authorized to accept a tender for the works, within the available funding, in due course.
|
21 January 2013 |
L. K. Borysiewicz, Vice-Chancellor |
Andy Hopper |
Susan Oosthuizen |
|
N. Bampos |
Fiona Karet |
Rachael Padman |
|
|
Charles Bell |
F. P. Kelly |
Shirley Pearce |
|
|
Jeremy Caddick |
Robert Lethbridge |
John Shakeshaft |
|
|
Stephen J. Cowley |
Mark Lewisohn |
Sam Wakeford |
|
|
Athene Donald |
Rebecca Lingwood |
I. H. White |
|
|
I. M. Le M. Du Quesnay |
Mavis McDonald |
A. D. Yates |
|
|
Nicholas Gay |
Rosalyn Old |
|
Proposed scheme for the new Department of Chemical Engineering and Biotechnology building at West Cambridge
