The £7 million, 3300 square metre Lincoln Innovation Centre, which opened in December 2008, is key to the city’s aspirations to improve the number and quality of jobs in Lincoln; to bring in higher level and higher waged jobs; and ultimately to underpin a sustainable and prosperous city economy. The City Council is delivering this critical Project with financial support from Lincolnshire County Council, Objective 2 European Regional Development Fund, Lincolnshire Enterprise and the East Midlands Development Agency.
The centre, which rents first and second floor offices and workshops to new and existing businesses in the area, has adopted many of the latest environmental technologies to reduce running costs and the carbon footprint of the building. Among the most innovative initiatives are the natural ventilation and natural lighting systems supplied and installed by Monodraught. A key component of the carbon reducing design is the capability to effectively cool down the concrete frame and block walls at night whilst providing ventilation. In total, forty-seven Monodraught Sola-boost natural ventilation units in sizes from 600mm to 1200mm diameter, and forty-six 230mm diameter Monodraught SunPipe natural day lighting units were fitted to offices, workshops, meeting rooms, and a café and circulation area. The Monodraught equipment was specified following a value engineering project carried out by main contractor Marriott Construction, part of the Kier Group Plc, to ensure the construction met the City of Lincoln Council’s budget.
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Commenting for Marriott Construction, Tony Jenks says: “An important part of the review was the centre’s natural ventilation and lighting strategy for the first floor, which originally included purpose built roof vents that combined ventilation and lighting.
Having had previous experience of Monodraught natural ventilation and lighting systems Marriott Construction approached the company for a full turnkey proposal to provide an environmentally friendly and energy efficient ventilation strategy for the first floor. As they were of proven performance, Monodraught Sola-boost natural ventilation units were adopted, together with Monodraught’s energy-free SunPipe natural lighting units.
Commenting on the working relationship, Tony Jenks says: “The proposal we received from Monodraught was excellent and really helped us to sell the natural ventilation approach to the Client. The design team’s input and drawings were also very good and we worked closely with them to integrate the Sola-boost units with our BMS system.”
Summing up he says: “We forced a very high specification into a tight budget and Monodraught contributed by providing innovative, energy-free ventilation and lighting technologies at a good price.”
The finished Project includes a Biodiverse roof in accordance with its innovative green credentials and the SunPipe systems were specially constructed to terminate 400mm above the roof surface to allow for the Biodiverse roof, but still ensure waterproofing integrity to the roof. The Architects, Marks Barfield, are famous for the design of the London Eye. Their Lincoln Innovation Centre design features the latest environmental technology including ground source heat pumps, which, like the Monodraught systems, will also reduce running costs and the carbon footprint of the building.
