Region: Devon

Value: £4,300,000

Contract terms: GC Works 1

Contract length: 87 weeks

Procurement: Design + Build

Completed: August 2014

BREEAM: Excellent

Awards: Abercrombie Award for Best New Building

Challenges: Restricted site, high level of pedestrian traffic, adjacent scientific laboratories sensitive to vibration, services diversion required, out of hours working

Project summary

Undertaken on a live further education campus, the Performing Arts Centre scheme involved the construction of a new landmark contemporary performance space for theatre, dance and music students. Enabling works comprised the diversion of sewage pipes, live electric cables, water courser, asbestos pipe water main, and fibre optic cabling. An unexploded ordnance survey was undertaken to mitigate associated risks.

The finished building features a two-storey height single floor auditorium with seating and back of house area, and an adjacent three floor section with public foyer, reception and feature staircase on the ground floor, rehearsal spaces and changing rooms on the first floor, and offices and sound / AV rooms on the second floor. The roof was constructed in two sections, for the auditorium and for the adjacent section, pitching towards each other with rainwater directed to a central gutter system. Underfloor heating was installed throughout the building, and hard landscaping and planting was provided externally.