East Riding College Bridlington

Overview

Mason Clark Associates (MCA) were commissioned by East Riding College to provide the structural and civil engineering design services for the new Bridlington Campus of the college. The new building was designed to provide a high quality teaching space with comprehensive environmental efficiency.

Tasks / challenges

Part of the building was over a medieval fishpond which required protection measures against ground gasses, which was highlighted during our site investigation and report phase. This section of the build contained the woodwork, bricklaying and vehicle workshops which had to be constructed to very specific floor tolerances. In addition, the new facility was constructed over existing playing fields and, as such, a drainage design incorporating storage tanks to reduce run-off into the surrounding drainage system, and SUDS techniques to manage surface water within the site was essential to ensure the success of the project.

Activity

The structure design is a steel frame which has a unique S-shaped plan arrangement supporting curved roofs. There are feature walls passing all the way through the building which were used to provide additional stability to the structure. The structure was fully modelled in 3D to ensure close dimensional coordination, management of the construction phasing and to allow structural optimisation. The 3D structural model was passed to the Steel Structures company to produce their fabrication details.

During the design phase, MCA also conducted an environmental impact assessment, recommending solar water heating for the main building. MCA engineers used their skills and experience to provide constant operation and maintenance advice throughout each delivery stage of the project.

Results

The client is very pleased with the new facility. The building provides a high-quality teaching space with high environmental efficiency, it is largely passively ventilated and incorporates ground source heating boreholes, coordinated with the foundation design, as well as solar water heating.