Sustainability experts at Focus Consultants have been appointed to help Nottingham’s new Digital Media Hub become one of the top three environmentally sustainable sites in the city.
The £9.1 million Confetti Institute of Creative Technologies is scheduled to be the flagship part of Nottingham Trent University’s Creative Quarter Campus and the main site of the Confetti Institute.
Work has just got underway on site on the six-storey building, which will connect the existing Confetti college centre on Convent Street and the Higher Education Centre on Parliament Street.
Designed by award-winning architects Allan Joyce, the striking building is hoping to achieve a BREEAM Excellent rating, with the expectation that it will be one of the most environmentally sustainable buildings in Nottingham.
Focus, which has its headquarters at Nottingham’s Phoenix Business Park, has been appointed as the BREEAM Assessor and the BREEAM Accredited Professional, providing the design team with expert advice on built environment sustainability, environmental design and environmental assessment.
Senior sustainability surveyor Jessica Bullers said: “The Energy and Sustainability team at Focus Consultants has had a long-standing, close relationship with Nottingham Trent University, providing sustainability support on a number of the university’s building projects.
“Working as the sustainability champion and simultaneously as the BREEAM assessor, we have established a good assessment process – leading to this latest project being potentially one of the most highly rated BREEAM buildings at the university, which is well recognised for being the UK’s ‘greenest’ university. For the past three years, NTU has been awarded first place in the People & Planet University League, which ranks all 145 UK universities on their commitment to and management of sustainability.
“Focus is proud to have been appointed to the team developing the Confetti Institute of Creative Technologies, which is not only a flagship part of NTU’s Creative Quarter Campus but likely to become one of Nottingham’s most environmentally friendly buildings too – an honour for a Nottingham-based company like Focus, which has been supporting the city in its development for more than 21 years.”
The new hub, due to be completed by summer 2018, will feature spacious contemporary classrooms and studios, a large Learning Resource Centre with private study facilities, creative social spaces and a rooftop garden. In addition to acting as Confetti’s headquarters and main reception, it will deliver all digital media games and interactive activity.
Work began before Christmas demolishing part of the existing Confetti site on Parliament Street to make way for the new build. The demolition unearthed some key archaeological findings including Medieval artefacts, caves and a 700-year old well that have helped rewrite the history of Medieval Nottingham and provide information about the way the area was used over 700 years ago.
Contractor Stepnells has now begun work on site.
Focus Consultants, which also has branches in Leicester, London and Boston in Lincolnshire, offers a range of support on all aspects of sustainable development, as well as services in funding and economic development, project management and building surveying.
