Climate

For over 70 years, we have championed sustainability through our role as heritage leaders and conservation specialists. Retrofitting and refurbishment are at the heart of our practice with inefficiency and waste an anathema to all we do.

Today’s generation of students are equally passionate about the environment and university estates need to be transparent about their actions taken to reduce their carbon footprint.

We have achieved BREEAM Outstanding and Excellent rated projects in sensitive, historic settings for numerous university clients. We understand that how we repair, re-purpose and build today will improve the world for generations to come.

University of Northampton

This Grade II-listed Victorian engine shed, built in the 1870s, fell into a dilapidated condition. As part of a design team, we transformed the structure into a new Student Union building for the University of Northampton. Purcell carried out a condition survey on the building and was subsequently appointed by the client to introduce design solutions to upgrade the external envelope of the fire-damaged building to meet BREEAM Excellent and accessibility standards.

The Engine Shed has become a sustainable and award-winning functional space and social hub for the university and organisation, whilst preserving the heritage of the building and its previous function.

University of East Anglia

In 2019, Purcell is one of three architectural practices to the University’s framework and has since undertaken a number of refurbishment, adaptation and conservation projects.

From devising a Statement of Significance for the Lasdun Academic Teaching Wall through to improving the versatility of campus space, Purcell’s work throughout the site will improve accessibility and flexibility while sensitively conserving its renowned Brutalist architecture. This includes driving improvements to original facilities, such as Student Support Services whose users deal with environmental performance and controls challenges arising from their type of construction.

Blue Boar Quad, Christ Church

A seminal Modernist building, Blue Boar is a residential quad designed for Christ Church in 1968 by acclaimed British architects Powell & Moya and is now Grade II* listed. Since its completion, the building was plagued by leaking roofs, cracking stone cladding and services failure. The client required a solution that would not only improve the building’s performance, maximise the use of space and create development opportunities but also gain statutory approval.

The most important aspect of sustainability was the thermal upgrading of the building. We also introduced heat recovery ventilation, roof insulation and double-glazed windows as a replacement for the single-glazing.