The Mountain Halls development won the BREEAM Award under the Multi-Residential category at an awards ceremony that took place at the CEW Awards 2012 Dinner at the Swalec Stadium.
Designed by Boyes Rees Architects, the new halls of residence were completed in autumn 2011 and offers 476 modern, contemporary and purpose built en-suite student residences. The entire project comprises of five, four-storey accommodation blocks, with a single-storey communal block and external amphitheatre seating area at the centre of the development providing internal and external amenity space for students and visitors. The accommodation has been designed respecting the local environment and is fully secure, with 24-hour CCTV coverage and on-site security.
The buildings employed various measures that helped in the certification. Proactive on site management was incorporated to ensure reduced energy and water consumption, while maintaining best practice principles in respect of air and water pollution. The buildings are capable of providing fresh air entirely via a natural ventilation strategy.
Maximum use of ‘A+’ and ‘A’ rated Green Guide to Specification materials was referred to during construction, recognising the use of construction materials with a low environmental impact over the full life cycle of the building. Low carbon technology was employed in the form of a photovoltaic panel array connected to the mains via the distribution board.
Energy-efficient lighting was installed throughout the developments to reduce the building’s carbon footprint. The buildings were also primarily located in terms of public transport and local amenities.
The Students’ Residence at the University of Glamorgan is also the highest scoring building under the BREEAM scheme in Wales for the 12 months prior to the end of March 2012.
