The Redevelopment Master Plan of the Beit Quadrangle , to give its full name, is the product of the architects’ labours since the first Masterplan was approved in one of the last Council meetings last academic year.
The 117 page document certainly looks nice, but does it contain what the students need? A quick critique of the plan has been performed by Live! so you don’t have to.
Of the key improvements listed, a new lift features, and appropriately at number 2 on the list, new toilet accommodation will also be built. Other benefits include the replacement of mechanical plant to comply with the new part L in the building regulations, as well as bringing the catering facilities up to scratch. The plan also warns that the ‘implementation strategy’ will depend on there being available funding. No, really.
Money
Your reporter hears that the Union is committing all of its reserves to the project, on the basis that the College will also ‘match fund’ what the Union gives and fundraises. Having already spent over one hundred thousand pounds on the preliminary work for the plan, there is little money available for other things.
Bars
A new bar will be constructed on the first floor, which will be open to the public at all times and presumably is hoped to generate extra revenue for the Union. The plans reveal that the expected use of the new lounge bar, with its bottled alcohol and newspapers is as many as 53 customers per hour. To make way for the added retail space, the second floor mezzanine will be developed where the new student activities center will be located, leaving the recently refurbished East Basement as enhanced storage facilities for clubs, which will be welcomed.
Entertainment
dBs will be refurbished completely, moving the stage to the furthest corner of the room, while the bar and food outlet will be revamped. The Union bar survives unscathed, and da Vincis gets a new name, Otto’s. Whether Lord Beit would have approved is anyone’s guess, but at least efforts are being made to lighten up and improve access to the space with more doors to the quad. Much of the design detail around the support areas such as the kitchens have yet to be finalised.
Games Room
The second floor plays host to the Games Room, where Snooker and other ball games will be housed. Opposite the Concert Hall will be made over, but not by DramSoc, in order to make the room more flexible in its use. The ever popular cinema projection facility will remain.
Gym
The controversial issue of the Gym has ensured that there will remain Gym provisions on the third floor of the building, though the roof will be lower than previously. Opposite on the east side will be the new presidential suite and associated offices, though the Permanent Secretary does get a slightly larger office than the President. Future Deputy Presidents will have to share office space, but this might at least mean that there will always be someone to talk to when you need them!
So that completes the main space use plans, but a considerable amount of the report is devoted to the services in the building. Your reporter has a special interest in these parts, as the hidden costs of the building and future running costs are tied up in these behind-the-scenes facilities.
Energy consumption
Controversially, the architects propose that the current heating and ventilation systems are not up to the job, and want to remove our supply of free heat from the College’s steam network, currently delivered by 750kW heat exchangers. They then propose that two new boilers be placed on the roof, with an unspecified capacity. Electricity to the quad is currently delivered via substations in the Albert Hall, which supplies our estimated demand of 100kW. Amazingly, the architects have decided that the electricity use in the building will quadruple after the refurbishment, and have specified a 630kW peak transformer. Anyone who ‘does the math’ will quickly work out that the Union finances might be stretched by such a scheme. Indeed at the Council meeting on 13th December, many questions were raised about the future energy consumption of the building. The architects have specified new air-conditioning and chiller units that soak up energy, and added to the new gas demand from the boilers, it looks like the energy efficiency of the building will suffer.
Your reporter wonders aloud if the 10% of ‘principal costs’ that must be spent on the energy efficiency of the building according to the building regs (see above) are just going to pay lip-service to the requirements given the massive hike in carbon dioxide emissions associated with the new building. Nowhere in the report has double glazing even been mentioned, nor the possibility of earning ROCs for the Union by installing a modern efficient *CHP* unit, which would also be eligible for subsidy from the government.
Surveillance
Finally the new CCTV systems will offer much wider coverage, with joystick controlled cameras and wipers for wet weather. We expect that security personnel will enjoy their new toy.
If you have any comments or queries about the proposed plans, that will affect the users (us) of the building for many years to come, you can submit your feedback to the Union mailto:yoursay@imperial.ac.uk.
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