| Towering ambition |
| Wednesday, 11 February 2009 | |
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By 2010 three refurbished towers will redefine Derby’s skyline
The look of the University of Derby – and of the city’s skyline – will radically change by 2010 when a £13.5m makeover of the three main towers at its Kedleston Road site is complete. A fixture of the local landscape since 1965, the towers are now in need of refurbishment.
Rather than opt for only changing the north, south and east towers’ appearance, the University is also substantially reducing its ‘carbon footprint. Around £600,000 from the £13.5m project budget will also be invested in alternative energy, in solar panel and wind turbine technology. Replacing 1960s single-glazed windows and thinly insulated walls with heat efficient glazed panels will cut the university heating bills and carbon emissions by reducing energy wastage, making the towers up to three times more energy efficient. It is expected that the additional noise created by the drilling will cause minimal disturbance, even for the closest properties to the University, but action has been taken to minimise any disruption to homes near the Kedleston Road site. Around £1m has been added to the overall cost of the £13.5m project to reduce noise and disruption on site. The extra cost has gone on researching the use of quieter diamond drilling equipment, using premanufactured glazing panels which do not need on site assembly and in lengthening the project time to allow phased drilling, to cause less disruption to neighbours. The main contractor for the University project, Office Projects Ltd (OPL), will be abiding by the regulations of the national Considerate Constructors’ Scheme during the works. Its fellow contractor on the project is Parry Bowen. OPL will have a project coordinator on site throughout the works.
• Installing new window units and insulating and recladding first the east and north tower (simultaneously) in 2008, then the south tower (in 2009) |
