The Structural Timber Awards reward outstanding projects, innovative products and dynamic approaches that promote excellence in structural timber across the UK. B & K Structures are delighted to announce they have been shortlisted a grand total of five times as finalists in the 2016 awards, - an outstanding achievement for the leading sustainable structural frame designer, who specialise in design and delivery of hybrid structures.
Greg Cooper, Pre-construction Manager for B & K Structures said: “It’s a great achievement to reach the finals of these prestigious awards and is a credit to the hard working team here at B & K Structures.”
B & K Structures are shortlisted in the following categories:
Carbon Neutral Laboratory of Sustainable Chemistry
The Carbon Neutral Laboratory of Sustainable Chemistry at the University of Nottingham is a finalists in the Project of the Year category, along with the Best Education Project and Best Low Energy categories. B & K Structures designed and installed the structural frame, with Engenuiti acting as structural frame engineer along with main contractor Morgan Sindall.
Located on Nottingham University’s Jubilee Campus, the pioneering two-storey, 22m tall engineered timber structure uses cross laminated timber (CLT) as the main structural component of the building for structural walls, floors and roofing elements, working with the structural glulam frame.
The centre aims to create a research culture for the 21st century in which the optimisation of sustainability is a key competence for all chemists and the understanding of new ways of working for minimum carbon impact are transferred back into pharmaceutical research laboratories.
On the roof of the building are four large prefabricated glulam and CLT ‘horns’ providing natural ventilation to the building. The construction of the carbon neutral laboratory focuses on natural materials with low embodied carbon and is designed to minimise energy consumption during its operation. When not in use the building becomes ‘dormant’, using minimal energy and storing heat.
The building is set to achieve BREEAM ‘Outstanding’ and LEED ‘Platinum’ ratings. These ratings are the highest grades obtainable from these environmental evaluation systems. Part of the project’s commitments to the environment included embodied carbon modelling the building to BSEN15978: Sustainability of construction – assessment of environmental performance of buildings - calculation method. A carbon model demonstrated that the operational energy balance of the building will, within 25 years of operation, pay back the embodied carbon of all building materials, transport emissions and related site energy emissions.
Pinewood Studios
B & K Structures worked in partnership with manufacturer Rubner Holzbau in designing, manufacturing and installing a full facade and roof package for five new sound stages at Pinewood Studios a finalist in the Best Commercial Project category. Part of the first phase of the expansion and development programme for the studios, the stages will be used for film production, TV production, video filming and motion capture for making cartoons.
The timber cassettes installed at Pinewood Studios are used for both the facade and roof package of the sound stages incorporating materials specifically selected to meet the appropriate levels of acoustic, fire safety and thermal inertia performance in one system.
The site is located near the M25 and M40 motorways, with noise levels around the stages reaching approximately 60dBLAeq at ground level, rising to 66 at the top of the building due to decreased screening from the motorways. A façade was developed to ensure that noise from external sources does not disturb film production within the building.
The project objectives were speed of construction, finished performance, safety during build, construction costs, accessibility for maintenance and operation and sustainability - through efficient use and low-impact of materials.
Essex Business School
Main contractors Morgan Sindall worked alongside structural frame engineer Engenuiti and B & K Structures who designed and installed the structural frame at Essex Business School, which was also shortlisted in the Best Education Project category.
Designed
with architects BDP, the Essex Business School comprises of a three storey main
building, single storey lecture theatre and a winter garden in an ‘Eden
Project’ style dome. The building features a range of innovative sustainable
elements including structural timber for the superstructure, a green sedum roof
and photovoltaic cells.
The curved timber frame and timber clad main building is shaped so that it
benefits from natural day light and ventilation. The roof of the business
school is covered in photovoltanics, which takes full advantage of the south
orientation in order to provide renewable energy for a combined heat and power
installation. This allows export of energy to offset carbon emissions from the
building.
The 2016 Structural Timber Awards will be presented at a high profile dinner on 19 October 2016, at The National Motorcycle Museum, Birmingham. The event will attract over 500 national business leaders and high profile decision makers from the construction industry.
To find out more about B & K Structures visit: www.bkstructures.co.uk
To book an Optimised Hybrid CPD session, please: Email: sales@bkstructures.co.uk
