Building of the Year Winner
2009
Neath Port Talbot County Borough Council :
Margam Discovery Centre
The Site
The 850 acre country estate is situated two miles
east of Port Talbot, set on the southern slopes of
Mynydd Margam, a largely forested mountain. Its history
can be traced back to pre-historic times, Bronze and
Iron Age, and evidence exists of Roman and Celtic
occupation.
The Brief
Sited within the Grade 1 registered Historic Garden
and Landscape, the project was to provide an
environmentally sustainable visitor centre and
sustainable energy showcase centre whose audience would
get a better understanding of the environment.
The building would act as both a base for
residential courses that run within and around the park
and a point of information and interaction for other
daily visitors. It was important that the centre
formed part of the route around the park and was
accessible by all visitors.
The Accommodation
The centre comprises single storey accommodation
which includes teaching labs, WCs, kitchen, refectory
and reception and a two storey residential block
comprising of en-suite bedrooms. Most of the single
storey accommodation is supported off the ground on
stilts.
The residential area comprises a two storey
accommodation block with 34 en-suite bedrooms, with
facilities for the disabled and people with special
needs. The building also houses an area for the public
including a reception, public toilets and changing
facilities.
Enhancing the centre’s educational role, many of
the building services have been made highly visible
with graphical displays of energy consumption and
savings.
For maximum efficiency and to minimise
environmental impact, the timber framed building has
been largely constructed off site, using timber from
sustainable sources, with pre-fabricated modules
being assembled on site.To minimise heat losses and
the need for mechanical services, the building has
been insulated to standards in excess of Building
Regulations requirements.
Space heating in the teaching block is provided
by an underfloor heating system served by a
wood pellet biomass boiler, which also serves
radiators in the accommodation block.
Wood pellets for the biomass boiler are stored in
a high capacity external silo to minimise frequency
of deliveries and thus reduce the carbon footprint of
the site even further.
As biomass is considered to be a carbon-neutral
fuel, the use of a biomass boiler has been predicted
to reduce CO2 emissions by 40%, giving the centre a
predicted carbon footprint of less than 10 kg.CO2/m2
per annum.
Supplementing the biomass boiler in winter a gas
fired condensing boiler has been installed, this uses
the low return water temperatures from the underfloor
heating to maximise condensing. Hot water in the
teaching block is provided by solar thermal panels,
supplemented by the boiler plant when necessary.
The centre is designed to be mainly naturally
ventilated via a combination of opening windows and
automatic roof lights, the latter being controlled
via rain and temperature sensors to prevent
overheating in summer and ensure occupant
comfort
Rainwater is stored in a below ground water
tank and used for flushing WCs and urinals within
the public toilets. Mains cold water is used a
secondary source of supply to the tank to ensure
minimum water levels are maintained.
The north-facing roof lights also help to
maximise penetration of natural daylight while
minimising solar heat gains. Daylight is
supplemented by predominantly fluorescent
artificial lighting, using a combination of high
frequency T5 sources in teaching areas and compact
fluorescent in accommodation areas.
In order to provide demand-controlled lighting,
the classroom lighting is linked to photocells to
dim the lighting in response to daylight levels,
while occupancy detection is used in all areas of
variable occupancy.All services are controlled
through a building management system (BMS), with
extensive monitoring of energy consumption to
ensure that systems are operating at maximum
efficiency.
| Contract Details |
|
| Client |
Neath Port Talbot CBC |
| Contract Value |
£7 million |
| Date of Practical Completion |
April 2009 |
| Project Managers & Quantirty
Surveyors |
EP Harries LLP |
| Architects |
Welsh School of Architecture
& Loyn & Co Architects |
| Mechanical & Structural
Engineering |
AECOM |
| Electrical Engineering |
AECOM ( Formerly Faber
Maunsell) |
| Clerk of Works |
Neath Port Talbot CBC |
| Planning Supervsopr |
EC Harris LLP |
| Main Contractor |
WRW Construction Ltd |
Jane
Davidson – Wales Assembly Government Minister for the
Environment, Sustainability and Housing - presenting
the Building of the Year Award 2009 to Councillor
Alun Thomas and Gareth Nutt of Neath Port Talbot
CBC
