The Princess Royal, Princess Anne, officially opened the new City Campus which is home to the University’s Psychology and Social Work programmes. The building also offers shared public access facilities including a new Arts, Health and Wellbeing Centre, delivered in partnership with the NHS Integrated Care Board (ICB), which will build on research into ground-breaking therapies and interventions. The building is now also home to the city’s public library.
Collaboration in design and construction
Founded more than 50 years ago, ADP now works from seven locations across the UK, Cyprus and India. The architectural practice was responsible for the design of the transformed, vacant, Art Deco department store building, which sits in the heart of the city’s conservation area and forms part of the city centre’s wider regeneration.
ADP Associate Director, Natalia Lopez, “We are so pleased to be part of this flagship project, which has transformed a landmark building in the centre of Gloucester into a dynamic, future-facing university campus. The project is more than a retrofit, it’s a bold statement about the future of our cities, where underused retail spaces can be reborn as engines of education, community, and renewal. This is architecture as urban repair, reactivating the high street, creating opportunity, and showing what’s possible when big-box retail buildings are reimagined for public good.”
Morgan Sindall were main contractor for the five storey, 20,000m2 project, now the base for 1,200 students and staff. They said, “To bring the scheme up to contemporary energy standards, low-carbon design technologies and intelligent building systems for heating, cooling, ventilation and lighting, including air source heat pumps, were implemented throughout. The team also carried out upgrades to ensure fire safety regulations are met in the conversion from retail to educational use.”
Versatility in creating beautiful, healthy environments
Chiefly centred around a multi-storey central atrium, City Campus encompasses lecture halls, seminar rooms, labs, teaching and study spaces, library, and immersive learning. Legacy architecture led to differing soffit heights, bulkheads and ancillary services that called for versatility, with some grid and tile installation being fixed to suspended sections.
Rockfon’s Rowan Green, “The specific demands of sophisticated, contemporary multi-use developments, like City Campus, call for a range of specialised ceiling systems in order to make each space fit for purpose and a pleasant, healthy environment. Rockfon has the breadth of systems required to satisfy these needs. We are always pleased to offer technical and practical advice, from concept, through planning, to delivery and installation.”
Rotherham-based Ace Partitions & Ceilings, were responsible for the installation of around 4700m2 of Rockfon Acoustic Systems. Managing Director, Tony Parkin, “This project offered a great opportunity to help transform a challenging existing structure into a modern learning environment. With such a large, multifaceted project, collaboration is key. Rockfon systems are straightforward to install – the quality and consistency of the products, combined with good technical support, meant both the acoustic and aesthetic demands of each space were met or exceeded.”
The perfect system for each space
Offering a wide choice of options for fixing and usage, Rockfon Blanka® dB 46 is in evidence throughout City Campus. It features an easy clean, anti-static surface, which delivers 87% light reflection, >99% light diffusion and room-to-room sound insulation of 46dB.
Rockfon Color-all® is offered in a range of 34 standard colours with matching grid, and bespoke colour-matching also available. Color-all tiles in Charcoal colour are teamed with black grid in the immersive learning suite to control sound and eliminate unwanted light reflection in the creation of simulated interiors. Elsewhere at City Campus, Rockfon® Artic is installed. The affordable, versatile range is available in several formats and edge details.
Circularity and re-use inform all that Rockfon does in terms of manufacturing and its continuing investment in R&D. Production centres prioritise minimising and re-using water, along with a determination to negate carbon impacts. Rockfon ranges are made with up to 38% recycled material and in the main, deliver Class A sound absorption. Due to the core of stone wool, derived from self-replenishing volcanic rock, their reaction to fire classification is impressive too – Class A1 and A2-s1,d0 on this project.
Rockfon offer a wide range of grid options, enabling visible, semi and fully concealed installation. In certain areas at City Campus, specialist Enhanced Corrosion Resistance (ECR) grid has been used, wherein all components are extra galvanised, with system accessories and wall angles also embodying Class D protection to meet the highest corrosion resistance classification.
University Vice Chair, Dame Clare Marchant, “This is a hugely proud moment for University of Gloucestershire and for all our partners who have supported us throughout this groundbreaking and complex journey.”
