Anglia Ruskin University
This major, complex redevelopment project was carried out whilst the university remained operational and split the campus in two. The centre section of the campus was demolished and required major service diversions, prior to the commencement of the main construction.
The site is in Cambridge city centre and is very restricted with only two small side roads to access the site. It is surrounded by sensitive neighbours including an old peoples home, a primary school, a theatre and local residents. It was a critical client requirement that the project was delivered without any disruption to the education of the 6000 students who use the campus every day.
Overcoming these challenges required intense planning and communication involving regular meetings with the Estates Dept., Heads of Depts., the design team and neighbouring stakeholders. VolkerFitzpatrick developed a detailed understanding of how the university worked, including student and staff movements, existing M+E services and fire escape routes.
From this, detailed logistics plans were created. These included; robust segregation, materials deliveries outside of busy periods, planned shutdown times for carrying out services, diversions and fire escape routes, adjacent roads were kept meticulously clean and quiet times were agreed for university exam timetables.
Out-of-hours meetings with the neighbouring stakeholders and a responsive approach created excellent relations and no complaints.
This was the most ambitious project ever undertaken by the University and they highly commended us for our positive and proactive approach to successfully meeting all of the challenges presented.