As part of an overall increase in automotive research capability, Coventry University are to deliver the new National Transport Design Centre (NTDC).
The NTDC research facility is split into two sections:

Design Studio, using automated milling machines to produce scale automotive models design livery.

Innovation centre to provide office space to start-up companies linked with the research.

The building consists of a 2-3 storey steel frame construction to minimise the structural weight over the long span studio and to reduce the time and cost within the Innovation Centre office construction.

The building is clad in a combination of long-span cladding Kingspan panels, brickwork and a large patterned perforated screen.

The building is supported by piled foundations down to the underlying sandstone strata with suspended ground floor slabs due to the presence of infilled historic quarry on site.

The school is to be an 8 form entry with 1200 secondary places and 240 sixth form places, but to allow for future expansion of the school to 12 form entry in the future.

The main school building will be constructed using a three storey steel framed structure supporting exposed precast concrete plank floors and roofs, which provide thermal mass within the building and assist with the energy performance of the school. The design will incorporate a landscape courtyard within the main building providing natural light to the adjacent teaching spaces. There is a separate sports hall block on the site which will be constructed using a steel framed structure with a lightweight roof. The main entrance area of the school which features a cantilevered section of the first floor to provide a visually prominent frontage on arrival.

Phase 1

The refurbishment of an existing listed building, including the removal of load bearing walls and provision of new external entrances.

Phase 2

Consists of the provision of a new split level classroom building on a sloping site. Complicated elevational treatments and parapets combined with the topography and proximity to the Phase 1 development presented a challenging set of site conditions.

The building consists of two number two storey teaching wings consisting of different learning spaces for various size classroom occupation. There is then a central area to house both 250 seat and 500 seat lecture theatre with circulation and alternative breakout learning spaces linking to the classroom wings. There is a large double storey height main entrance atrium to the back of the lecture theatres with feature staircase providing access for the larger of the two lecture theatres.

The structure for this is a steelwork frame with a mixture of precast floor units to the teaching wings and insitu concrete slabs on metal decking to the more irregular areas of the circulation spaces and lecture theatre inclined seating. There is a specialist feature long span timber roof clear over the central area between the two classroom wings. Continuing the alternative break out learning spaces the external areas outside of the building consist of seating areas such to be an extension to that of the internal spaces.

Generally a 4 storey building, the structure is comprised of a steel frame with 200mm thick pre-cast slabs and a lightweight roof formed on a structural deck. The pre-cast slabs are tied to the steelwork to accommodate the disproportional collapse requirements stipulated by Building Control. These details were developed to achieve both an economical and buildable solution. Foundations were mass concrete pads and nominally reinforced strip footings bearing onto mudstone horizons, a ground bearing slab was used.

The building comprises of two storeys to house a specialist plant sciences research laboratory at the University of Warwick.

The main structure consists of a two storey steel framed entrance/core area with a single storey frame to the adjoining main laboratory area.  The floor and roof being insitu concrete slab on metal decking.

There is then a specialist Grodome structure over the laboratory provided by Unigro to provide the controlled environmental chambers for the growing of the plants.  This itself is a galvanised steel frame glazed with twin-wall polycarbonate to form the curved outer walls/roof.

Extensive increase in capacity by more than doubling the size of the existing building. Re-modelling of the existing school including structural alterations to the existing CLASP steel frame. Removal of existing precast concrete cladding panels and re-cladding with SIPS panel system.

Re-modelling of the existing single storey steel framed building to allow further classroom and ancillary accommodation to be added. Re-cladding using SIPS panels.

The primary structure consists of a braced steel frame with a suspended precast concrete split level beam and block ground floor.

Lightweight sloping roofs were used throughout and external walls consisted of blockwork with timber or render cladding. Much attention was paid to the interface between the new and existing buildings, including the integration of the existing drainage system.

The development comprised of two extensions to the existing school, the first being a single storey reception classroom block to the West of the site, providing the reception year with an additional 3 No. classrooms, and the second being a two storey teaching block to the North of the site, providing year 5 & 6 pupils with a further 3 No. classrooms each, with the addition of a resource and group centre along with a new ICT/Library suite.

Both the new single and two storey classroom extensions comprised a steel frame, with a composite deck solution for the first floor of the two storey extension, both built off pad and strip foundations, with a ground bearing reinforced slab solution.

Reinforced cantilever ground beams were required to support the steel frame structure at the interface between the new structure and the existing building.