Queen Mary University of London

Dramatic presence and an eye-catching facade

The Project

Part of the School of Humanities, the 5-storey building contains a large auditorium, studios, teaching and administration facilities designed by Wilkinson Eyre Architects Limited for Queen Mary’s University of London at its Mile End Campus. The new film and drama studio is clad in distinctive glass panels – digitally printed with artwork by the artist Jacqueline Poncelet.  QMUL is highly ranked amongst UK universities for the provision of arts and humanities courses.


Building Control

Oculus provided the building control services for the multi-million pound Humanities Building and assisted the Design Team with the challenging issue of ensuring the building was not affected by noise and vibration from the nearby underground system.  At foundation level the structure is effectively bearing on anti-vibration pads to limit noise and vibration migrating into the building’s structure.

Since 2002, Oculus has provided the building control services for many of the phases of the Mile End Campus student village, where award winning buildings have created 1,200 student rooms, restaurants, retail and other facilities. The Humanities Building is an important element of its on-going development and has pride of place prominently positioned on the Mile End Road – a main arterial route into central London.


CASE STUDY
Prior Park College, Bath

The building will provide state-of the-art sports facilities for students and the general public, and has facilities catering for badminton, tennis, netball, volleyball, basketball, table tennis, five-a-side football and hockey practice. There are also classrooms, a fitness suite, changing facilities and a viewing balcony over the cricket & rugby pitches.

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CASE STUDY
Barnwell House

Barnwell House, a new-build open plan office space designed to house Airbus’s UK engineering teams, was recently completed. The project included the design, build and fit-out of a new four-storey office building and energy centre to accommodate 2,350 staff. The building is some 90m square and is open plan, including 4 atria. 

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CASE STUDY
The Gainsborough Bath Spa

The Gainsborough building situated in the heart of Bath was formerly part of the City of Bath College. A Grade II listed building from the Georgian period designed by John Pinch the Elder. The conversion to a 5* luxury hotel presented many challenges. The new multi-storey Lower Borough Walls wing reflects the host building architecturally. In the heart of the hotel lies Spa Village Bath, which is quite unique insofar as it has access to the natural thermal mineral-rich waters, making it the only natural thermal spa inside a hotel in the UK.

The main stair protection was particularly challenging as enclosing it was not an option from a conservation perspective. A solution of discreetly placed fire curtains operating on the fire alarm system to provide protection was developed. There are also isolated areas with sprinkler protection to provide an alternative to passive fire protection.

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