海角视频

University of Liverpool School of Architecture

Liverpool, UK

海角视频 supported the University of Liverpool鈥檚 project to transform its School of Architecture into a more cohesive space, by delivering fire engineering and acoustics insight.

The O鈥橠onnell + Tuomey design was the winner of a three-stage invited international competition that aimed to 鈥渞edefine the nature of architectural education and to challenge the current preconceptions of architectural design of the 21st century, imagining a building respectful of tradition, but ambitious enough to anticipate the architecture to come鈥�.

The University of Liverpool is transforming its School of Architecture into a more cohesive teaching, learning and research space.

海角视频 delivered expert insight around fire safety and acoustics.

The School currently comprises two buildings: a Georgian terrace and the 1930s Leverhulme building. A new central public space will pull the two existing elements together.

Our fire engineering team delivered a bespoke fire strategy, allowing for an open flexible and safe environment for staff and students to work and learn.

The acoustic engineering team optimised the atrium to facilitate open-plan teaching and learning without being an acoustic distraction across teaching clusters.

Challenge

The School currently comprises two conjoined buildings: the Georgian terrace and the 1930s Leverhulme building designed by Charles Reilly with subsequent works carried out in the 1980s by King and McAllister. The brief recognised the 鈥渓ack of cohesion among the parts, a missing public core and social spaces鈥� and was looking for a 鈥渕eaningful reorganisation鈥� but stressed the need to retain all the existing fabric, important in representing the history of the School.

海角视频鈥檚 fire engineering experts were engaged to deliver an up-to-date, cohesive and comprehensive fire strategy, which would need to consider the relevant risks posed by the different periods of the various sections of the building, together with mitigating against any new risks created by the latest interventions.

Our fire engineering experts faced the challenge of seamlessly integrating the existing building with the new one. We needed to ensure that the means of escape were effective for both buildings, the fire safety systems were properly integrated, and no new elements compromised existing fire safety provisions, such as firefighting vehicle access routes and the fire performance of external walls.

Additionally, we had to ensure that the fire strategy complemented the architectural vision for open voids between floors, connectivity, and flexibility. This was achieved through well-considered design and a deep understanding of the fundamental fire safety principles relevant to this type, scale, and height of building.

The open-plan nature of the new teaching areas could also create challenges around the management of acoustics within the building; and therefore careful consideration of how to minimise acoustic distractions formed an integral part of the design process.

Solution

Our experts began by conducting a comprehensive assessment of the School, highlighting any areas of concern 鈥� such as areas where travel distance limitations were extended, or occupants had to escape in close proximity to a void, which could compromise their escape, and they provided a comprehensive review of occupant capacities and escape provision.

We worked closely with the wider design team to shape the architectural interventions to work in harmony with the fire safety strategy. We delivered bespoke fire engineered solutions for any complicated voids and open connectivity between floors created by the open nature of the new extension, which included making sure safe means of escape could be maintained through these open spaces, without people encountering smoke during an emergency evacuation.

We were able to tackle these challenging areas with light-touch engineering solutions, such as the addition of solid balustrades to void connections, which would assist in directing smoke upwards and away from escape routes.

This allowed us to maximise the efficiency and minimise the carbon intensity associated with smoke clearance systems, while ensuring robust and resilient fire safety remained in place for the occupants. We also advised on a high level of fire alarm and protection system coverage, to ensure early detection, allowing for a faster evacuation time, and helping firefighters to tackle an incident swiftly, minimising potential damage.

We also supported the design team with input on the most impactful solutions for enabling fire service access to the building. Our fire team was also able to provide clear insight for the client and the design team on a range of recent legislative changes and advise on the impact of these changes.

Our acoustics experts developed digital models to predict the behaviour of sound in the new spaces, particularly the open-plan teaching areas, which stand alongside design criticism spaces. These needed to offer more acoustically intimate spaces, despite the open nature of the teaching environment. This was achieved through a combination of the careful siting of both architectural elements to act as acoustic absorbers, together with the use of furniture to acoustically divide up the room.

The materiality of these elements was carefully considered to mitigate against undue reverberation, thus reducing reverberant noise build-up and noise spill across the open plan floor plates.

Value

Our fire engineering team delivered robust mitigation against fire risks, ensuring a safer environment for staff and students, without adversely impacting the aesthetic vision of the architect for more cohesive and open spaces. Our acousticians delivered comprehensive insight into the design from RIBA Stage 2 鈥� ensuring the interventions into the design were made at an early and impactful stage.

The final design achieves the client鈥檚 brief of delivering a cohesive teaching environment, with a central public space with places for social interaction as well as open-plan teaching areas.