Leytonstone Construction Skills Centre Case Study

SUMMARY OF CONTENT

• A basic description of the project and building;
• BREEAM Rating and score;
• The key innovative and low-impact design features of the building;
• Basic building cost - £/m²;
• Services Cost - £/m²;
• External Works - £/m²;
• Gross floor area – m²;
• Total area of site – hectares;
• Function areas and their size – m²)
• Area of circulation - m²
• Area of storage -  m²
• % area of grounds that can be used by community
• % area of buildings that can be used by community
• Predicted electricity consumption – kWh/m²
• Predicted fossil fuel consumption – kWh/m²
• Predicted renewable energy generation – kWh/m²
• Predicted water use – m³/person/year
• % predicted water use to be provided by rainwater or greywater
• The steps taken during the construction process to reduce environmental impacts.
• A list of any social or economically sustainable measures achieved/piloted.

The scope of the case study is to publish information about the project and to highlight information about overall environmental impact of the building. 

Basic description of the project and building.

The Construction Skills  Centre (CSC) is a new build project located on a former EDF depot at 442 Cathall Road, London E lI ,in the London Borough of Waltham Forest (LBWF). The site is owned by EDF Energy and is leased by the Borough, for a peppercorn rent, for the purpose of the current development. Located just 1 km from the Olympic Park and Stratford City the Construction Skills Centre, or National Skills Academy for Construction (NSAfC) is a key legacy project that will train residents from some of the UK's most deprived wards, over its operational lifetime of around 10 years at least.      

The proposed project has been developed in partnership with representatives from the Borough, The LDA and ODA and in consultation with key users. The present proposal is the result of the engagement process, and the optimisation that has taken place during the project development, and can be summarised as follows:

• Circa 1450 sqm of support and classroom accommodation, to be of modular off-site construction;
• Circa 2300 sqm of training halls, consisting of 1 covered hall to comply with the requirements of the National Scaffolding Association, and another covered hall to cope with multipurpose training (e.g. Dry-lining, carpentry, roofing etc);
• A covered storage area;
• External training areas and on-site car parking.   

The present proposal represents the results of the engagement, development and optimisation process, carried out in an accelerated manner to meet the specific deadlines linked to the Olympics.

The main entrance, administration and offices, teaching classrooms, changing and toilet facilities and catering facilities are all accommodated in the modular block, on the ground and first floors, which wraps around the multipurpose training hall.

The classroom sizes were taken from the LSC 'Guidance for further education Colleges on the management of floor space' May 2007. This has no impact on the occupancy level of the classrooms and results in a more compact block offering better circulation.

EXTERNALAPPEARANCE

The main entrance is positioned clearly on the eastern elevation as part of a two storey glazed element to the classroom support building. Located opposite the defined car parking area and close to the proposed vehicular and pedestrian entrance off Hollydown Way, it will be clearly visible to all visitors.

There are also several direct access points into the two training halls from the outside areas. Adjacent to the training halls are three large external store rooms. Easy vehicular delivery access to these stores has been provided in the overall building layout. 

The training halls have been placed on the footprint of the existing warehouses to maintain similar massing as the existing buildings (now demolished), to minimize their impact on the existing views of the site and prevent any effect on daylight or sunlight to nearby properties.' The two storey modular block wraps around the multi-purpose training hall, thus the building steps down in scale along Cathall Road and Hollydown Way and, with the lower level storage units, the scheme steps down to the cemetery responding to the surrounding context.

The main entrance is accentuated by a two storey glazed element which contrasts to the rest of the modular building. The two-storey modular building will be primarily clad in a distinctive golden yellow cladding and complimented with a contrasting darker colour surrounding the windows, to provide a prominent and focal element to the development. This will enhance the architectural language of the scheme by contrasting the two-storey module building and the taller training hall facilities.

The two training halls will be clad in an appropriate neutral cladding panel that will relate to and enhance the classroom support block, making it the stand out as the key feature of the build. The roof of the training halls will be covered in a translucent material to optimize the volume and quality of light. The scale and relationships of the built form has been carefully considered to create a building of appropriate scale and as a positive community landmark, whilst not compromising the character of the area or the adjacent properties. The vibrant golden yellow cladding will enrich the overall scheme and distinguish the contrasting architectural language of the modular building in relation to the training halls.

      In the following table you can find information regarding the project.