Description

This £5.2 million pound project was completed at the end of May 2012 following a 65 week construction period.

It was awarded under the Carmarthenshire framework agreement as an NEC 3 Option C Design and Build contract and was the first project to be delivered under a joint procurement initiative driven by the Welsh Government.

Mid and West Wales Fire and Rescue Service were the lead client who went on to act as Landlord and building manager for the other clients.

The project was sited on the fringe of Llandrindod Wells adjacent to residential properties, in a small industrial park and incorporates Llandrindod Wells Fire Station, a divisional police station for Dyfed Powys Police and a multi-disciplinary Justice Centre for Her Majesty’s Courts and Tribunal service.

The building consisted of a steel framed structure built of pad and strip foundation in split levels across and down the site with composite floor construction and blockwork infill diaphragm walls. External walls were rain screen clad with larch boarding and the roof a single ply membrane over an insulation layer built off a profiled metal roof decking and covered with a sedum blanket. Alutec boarding was used for fascias, soffits and copings.

Being on the edge of open countryside, with the presence of Great Crested Newts, otter activity and extensive bird nesting areas, environmental issues were of major concern during and after construction.

The site, although sloping by approx. 12 –15 metres, was extremely wet from the surface run off from adjacent fields settling into the marsh overlay to the clay substrate. Therefore surface water run-off during construction had to be strictly controlled with cut off drainage, filtration and silt weirs to maintain water quality in adjacent watercourses

External light pollution was also strictly controlled during construction and that principle was extended into the final installation.

 

The project, at the beginning of the design process, was aspiring to achieve a BREEAM excellent rating. However, due to extreme pressures and restraints on budget, the Client took the decision to Value Engineer a downgrade to Very Good.

 

This was achieved with measures such as:

  • The Sedum green roof
  • Larch cladding from renewable and sustainable sources
  • The use of solar shading on curtain wall areas
  • High levels of insulation
  • Environmental impact mitigation areas, hibernacula, bird and bat boxes
  • Low energy loss glazing.
  • Surface water run off attenuation.
  • Windows and doors rated A from the BREEAM green list
  • Site waste management plans via the BRE SMARTWaste systems
  • External works material selected from the BREEAM green list as being grade A or A+
  • Combined heating and power plant running alongside and supplementing main boilers
  • Use of as much local resource as possible to limit the transport Carbon footprint
  • Active participation in the Considerate Constructors Scheme
  • Wildflower and indigenous planting.
  • Landscaping use of bulk excavation materials
  • External lighting designs to minimize light pollution
  • Grasscrete overspill parking areas

 

The project was the overall winner in the “Powys Building Control Excellence Awards 2013” and nominated to go forward in the Best Large Commercial Project category into the finals of the “LABC South Wales Excellence Awards 2013”.

The particular relevance of this project to the proposals at Gower College are it’s procurement under a design & build contract and it’s BREEAM rating “very good”.

Under the control of our Project Quantity Surveyor, working in close partnership with the Clients’ Consultants, this scheme was delivered £125K below the Target Cost allowing each party to benefit from a 50/50 pain/gain arrangement.