Regenerating south east London – LJJ
Demand for higher education in the UK has never been greater, with plans to remove all limits on student numbers likely to lead to an extra 60,000 student places available for the 2015/6 academic year.
Developers are responding by building new student accommodation blocks and Spring Mews is one of the schemes designed to address the need for more student accommodation in London.
Located in the heart of the Vauxhall Gardens Conservation Area, Spring Mews is CLS Holdings plc development that comprises student accommodation with 378 beds, a 93-bed hotel and flexible office/ retail units. LJJ carried out all the mechanical, electrical and public health works, collaborating closely with main contractor, Shepherd Construction, to complete the scheme within a tight construction programme.
Fully air conditioned to meet the demands of the overseas market, the student accommodation combines en-suite cluster and studio apartments and Facilities include a gym and swimming pool, cinema and laundry facilities.
Meanwhile, the new 93-bed Staybridge Suite hotel, operated by the IHG Group, will provide modern and comfortable rooms, designed for residents with longer stay requirements and also boasts a private gym and laundry facilities.
An energy centre devised by a Swedish energy management consultant under the direction of CLS Holdings plc lies at the heart of LJJ’s M & E installation. It features a geothermal heat pump system, producing heating, cooling and domestic hot water (DHW) for the building. Waste heat from the cooler is used to heat the heating system and DHW.
The energy source is a unique aquifer solution, providing the energy machines with high grade heat from the ground. Indeed, more than 80 per cent of the system’s requirements are provided by renewable geothermal energy.
The system will also store the building’s summer time waste heat in the ground so that it can be used in the winter. Use of the ground as a heat sink, also sharply increases cooling efficiency in the summer.
As well as the energy machines and associated pump sets and shunt groups, the basement plant room contains the scheme’s boilers, thermal stores, calorifiers and plate heat exchangers.
Dry air cooling plant is provided at roof level for the dissipation of any unused energy and there is also a CHP on the roof that will maintain the required temperature in the thermal stores.
To read the full article see the latest November/December edition of EiBI.
