Shouksmiths

Morfitts completes University of Leeds Archive building project

Wednesday, 15th June 2011

Morfitts has just completed its work on the new archive building at the University of Leeds, in a design and build mechanical and electrical services contract valued at £550,000. The prestigious new building will be shared with Marks & Spencer, which was started in Leeds more than 125 years ago, and will permanently house both M&S’ full Company Archive and future expansion space for collections from the University library.

Working with the main contractor, Miller Construction, Morfitts' work comprised the plant room equipment, the full building services installation within the University archive, and the provision of services connections to the M&S section of the building. The design for Morfitts’ work required that extremely tight environmental conditions within the archive building are maintained covering both temperature and humidity.

A further design requirement was that if the building is affected by a major loss of energy supply, the environmental conditions within the archive rooms themselves must be maintained for a period of 48 hours, with very little tolerance being allowed.

The project in sustainability terms is designed to give an excellent BREEAM rating for the building, and the mechanical and electrical services contribute towards this rating with a gas fired CHP system, a 120kw propane chiller, photovoltaic panels and other energy saving devices.

John Cundale, Morfitts’ Project Engineer said: “Morfitts and Miller Construction have worked closely together to deliver a successful project to the client in an extremely tight programme.”

The building is scheduled to open later this year.