The new student accommodation at Swansea University has generous bedrooms and top quality design, created by PCKO Architects. This ambitious flagship scheme significantly enhances the university campus as well as the adjacent registered historic park and garden. The two new blocks, which are built on a brownfield site, link the residential quarter of the campus with the rest of the university, forming an attractive new destination point and a new frontage to the park. The blocks frame views from the campus into the parkland, and from the park towards Swansea Bay. The student accommodation is fitted out with bespoke, high quality fitted furniture to optimise function and storage. Bedrooms are arranged in clusters of eight sharing well equipped kitchen and dining facilities. A high proportion of bedrooms and kitchen diners incorporate facilities for wheelchair users and are fully adaptable. The blocks are clad in precast Cornish granite and Portland stone aggregate panels, standing seam aluminium and high performance joinery incorporating opaque glass and coloured panels to reflect and complement the colours of the parkland through the seasons. The project incorporates many sustainable features, including a new combined heat and power plant with district heating. Student flats have mechanical ventilation with heat recovery. Facilities incorporate natural ventilation with solar control glazing to curtain walling to minimise reliance on mechanical ventilation. The project used off-site manufactured cladding while ensuite bathrooms were supplied as factory-made ‘pods’. This approach ensured that the quality of detail and workmanship was maintained, reduced construction waste and benefited the building programme.
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