This iconic 4 storey steel framed building houses the new City of Bristol College practical skills centre. This state of the art learning facility and working environment utilises the latest technologies to drive up educational standards and provide the necessary skills, qualifications and improved employment opportunities for over 3,000 young people and adults in South Bristol each year.
The striking appearance of this unique landmark building is a visual reference to the old Whitchurch Airport that formerly occupied the site and the design reflects the two hemispheres of the brain with twin sections located either side of a spacious central atrium linked by bridges at each level.
South Bristol Skills Academy presented a complex technical challenge: the building ‘shell’ curves asymmetrically in 3 dimensions: the plan, cross section and long section all curve asymmetrically in compound curves.
Realising this award winning form required close co-operation from an early stage between the main parties: AWW as the architects, Clarke Bond as the structural engineer, SIAC steel as the steel fabricator, KalZip the cladding supplier and Lakesmere as cladding installer.
Early meetings between all parties agreed the principles of how to put the external fabric together and ensured a suitable and achievable interface between the supporting steel frame and the finished shell of cladding.
The complex shape necessitated modelling in 3D to produce fully co-ordinated elevations, sections and detailed drawings, and was used by Autodesk as a case study for future designs.
The close co-operation and teamwork between all parties meant that installation on site went very much as planned and proceeded smoothly and safely. The two keys to the success of this project were early meetings to agree every party's needs and capabilities, and the exchange of 3D CAD models between the designers which were ultimately used to drive the computer driven production machinery.
The unique materials combination in this building provide the structure with a good thermal mass so it stores and regulates heat well to give a steady internal temperature. This has resulted in the building envelope attaining an ‘A’ rating in BREEAM’s ‘The Green Guide to Specification’
