Who: The University of Manchester

When: 2024- ongoing

What:

As the name suggests, The Humanities Bridgeford Street Building is home to the humanities school and additional staff offices and workshops for the Manchester School of Architecture. Our work on the building combines asset renewal through long-term maintenance works and sustainability-driven enhancements to meet the University’s 2038 carbon-neutral goal with user-driven remodelling to enhance the building’s functional operations. This will enhance both the physical asset and the building’s functional performance.

The project initially started as only a long-term maintenance project, however during Stage 2 and 3, the decarbonisation of the building was instructed, subsequently followed by user-driven remodelling works.

We worked with the client to map out the new works, securing buy-in for new technologies and solutions to improve the full thermal performance of the building, an extensive re-working on the buildings mechanical and engineering, upgrades to toilet facilities and upgrades to teaching spaces.

Key Features:

• Undertook complex optioneering across key project scope areas, including assessing the interdependencies between these works. (e.g. across long-term maintenance and zero carbon works).
• Optioneering of the delivery, phasing and decant strategy, developing an optimal solution between user requirements (ability and amenability to decant), decant space availability, and financial budgetary constraints.
• Developed an innovative approach to defining and managing change against the project brief, ultimately benefiting the project.
• Improving the thermal performance of the building, including external wall insulation, window and curtain walling replacement and roof insulation.
• A full mechanical and engineering replacement and upgrade throughout the building.
• Additional upgrades throughout the building to improve the user ‘experience’ and compliance including remodelling, decoration, and upgrades to the teaching, seminar and lecture theatres.