A £40m ground-breaking eco-friendly student village at the
The development has beaten more than 1 million buildings assessed through this leading environmental standard since it was launched in 1990. The Green is one of only 15 buildings in the world to achieve BREEAM’s highest classification of ‘Outstanding’, and the rating announced sees the development top this premier list. The rating has been awarded as an ‘interim’ assessment and will be checked by BREEAM again within three months to ensure the high standards have been maintained.
The unique development was designed by GWP Architecture and was funded by Listerhills SSV Limited, a joint venture by Welbeck Land Limited and the Hayaat Group, with additional funding by the University. On behalf of the joint venture, the project has been managed by Mi7 Developments since its inception in 2005. It was constructed by GB Building Solutions in a joint venture with Balfour Beatty Engineering Services. Strategic consultancy from the BREEAM assessors was provided by GWP Project Services.
Consisting of 1,026 bedrooms across four-storey townhouses and six and seven storey apartments, the BREEAM rating has been made possible through meticulous planning of the design and construction methods.
GWP Architecture brought their experience in the field of sustainable student accommodation to the development and extensive work was required to ensure the buildings could deliver an exceptional performance for sustainability. The design used a ‘fabric first’ approach to deliver a highly efficient building envelope which minimises the need for space heating. The largest heating load is for hot water, which is provided by a renewable energy source in solar thermal collectors, which are supplemented by a combined heat and power plant.
Interactive displays allow students to understand what energy or water they are using, and enable them to compare their energy use against their neighbours in real-time. A team of Green Ambassadors will teach fellow residents how to live in the most sustainable way possible, and those that are careful with their energy use will get a rebate on their bills. By empowering students in this way behaviour patterns will be altered, providing significant reductions in the use of energy and water throughout the life of the building.
The building materials and methods have had to be of the very highest environmental standard throughout to allow the rating to have been achieved. The buildings are made of pre-fabricated open panel timber wall frames from a sustainable source. Bathroom ‘pods’ were sourced locally and installed using a crane as completed units to maximise productivity and reduce waste. A biodiversity pond reuses rainwater and provides an attractive place to meet and relax.
The development, located in the heart of the
The Green forms part of the University’s strategy to create a leading sustainable campus and is part of its multi-award-winning Ecoversity programme. The University, which recently won an International Sustainable Campus Award, is widely known as a leader in the HE sector for Education for Sustainable Development. The development will teach resident students how to live in a truly sustainable way and the building will be used in teaching as a blueprint for sustainable development.
The student village has also been designed to be a fantastic place to live, achieving a sense of community not usually present in student halls. It includes patios and gardens, built in barbeques, and a number of areas to meet and relax. Students will be encouraged to grow vegetables and dining rooms are large designed to enable the households to eat together. The Green welcomes its first residents next week and demand for the rooms has been very high.
The development is also ground-breaking in terms of the volume of rooms delivered in just one phase. Typically around 500 rooms would be delivered in one phase spanning around two years, however The Green delivered 1,026 rooms in a single phase in just 20 months.
The Green is the initial phase of the Bradford Learning Quarter, a key regeneration area of
Mi7 Developments have already made progress on the next phase within the Learning Quarter. Known as the ‘Listerhills Triangle’, which is set to deliver further student accommodation and also attract occupiers from the retail, health, fitness and private nursery sector. The combined investment in The Green and the Listerhills Triangle is set to exceed £100m and will transform an area in need of much regeneration and deliver numerous economic benefits in the local area.