London & South East

Improving the University of Westminster’s Marylebone campus

A project to remodel and improve services at the University of Westminster’s Marylebone campus has reached completion.

Work was conducted on the project in two phases, with Vinci as the main contractor and Rock Townsend as the architect.

Phase One of the project comprised the reworking of some existing office spaces and the relocation of the site’s business school. Seminar spaces were also reworked and re-fitted with new lighting, new ceilings, improved IT facilities and associated furniture installed.

Phase One ran for approximately five months and reached completion in autumn 2012.

Phase Two comprised the creation of the Learning Platform – an area of the site constructed through the reconfiguration of an existing, yet underused, central quad. Work reached completion on the project in December 2012.

Commenting on the project, University of Westminster Director of Estates and Facilities, Trevor Wills, said:

“The Marylebone campus is one of the University of Westminster’s main teaching sites and is home to two of our schools – the Westminster Business School and the School of Architecture and the Built Environment.

“The work that we conducted was to give the site a much needed makeover and also to change the way the site operates. Although there were lots of internal works on the project one of the main features was to cover over the central quad, protecting it from the elements and transforming it into a usable space.

“This space has now become the Learning Platform, which is a very vibrant space and around this area we created a ground floor reception space for the library, some new lecture and seminar spaces and we gave the entrance a major refurbishment. The library also benefitted from refurbishment works and we improved the front canopy.”

During the works, a number of environmentally friendly features were incorporated into the site, including a rain water harvesting system and a combined heat and power (CHP) system.

Although work is now complete on the project, an area of land situated towards the rear of the campus has been reserved for a future landscaping scheme.

All of the work on the project was completed whilst the campus remained in operation, so in order to facilitate some of the students’ studies a number of students were decanted to a nearby site.

Commenting on the project, Vinci Senior Contracts Manager, Bob Anderson, said:

“This was a massive project, in quite a short space of time. We encountered a few challenges along the way, but we met the University’s aims to complete each phase around the student semester and we are very pleased with the end result.

“One of these challenges was asbestos which we unfortunately uncovered throughout the job. This caused a few delays, but we took ownership of this problem and working closely with the University we managed to rectify this situation within agreed timeframes.

“We have worked on quite a number of university projects in the past, which allowed us to draw upon past experience, however we were still aware that this would be a challenging job. We overcame all the complexities of the project thanks to a good team, with approximately 230 operatives on the site at any one time and the University are very happy.”

Trevor added:

“The work conducted on this project has completely transformed the way the Marylebone Campus operates and has allowed us to become a modern, vibrant university. The Learning Platform has been very well received by all of our students and we have met all the aims that we set out to achieve at the beginning of the project.”

KS Security Limited

KS Security Ltd is a UK manufacturer and designer of bespoke and off the shelf physical security measures including: attack and bullet resistant security counters & screens, pay windows, security doors, cash transfer and bulk transfer units.

If secure interaction between staff and customers is vital in a business – but the client needs to keep its employees protected – KS Security has an option that’s suitable for the business and its budget. Whether the level of risk is from physical attack or attack with firearms, KS Security can design and manufacture a bespoke counter and screen specifically for each client’s needs. The complete design and build process takes place in-house from its 2,000 sq foot factory in Kent, ensuring that every detail from drawing to delivery is precise and on time.

The University of Westminster required two secure payment positions for the cash office. Both screens needed to provide protection from attack, whilst also offering a customer friendly counters for interactions and transactions to take place. One of the two counters needed to be lower for disabled access.

Following a number of site visits KS Security designed, manufactured and installed one standard and one DDA compliant bespoke security counter and screen payment system. The original screen specification was upgraded from 11.5 mm attack resistant to a more secure bullet resistant glazing, to provide the level of protection that the University required. Each counter position housed an electronic audio system with hearing induction loop, providing secure speech transfer and accessibility for people with hearing aids.

For more information about KS Security Ltd please visit: www.ks-security.co.uk.

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Roma Publications