Waveney Campus: Stunning Views for All

The Waveney Campus project took a significant step forward today with the release of an exciting artist’s impression of the proposed complex.

The project will create a landmark administrative and scientific complex to house 1,000 staff from the Centre for the Environment, Fisheries & Aquaculture Sciences (Cefas), Waveney District Council (WDC) and part of Suffolk County Council (SCC).

The early image shows a realistic impression of the Campus’ 3-D structure, indicating the building's stature and presence on the site. Stunning views from the building and across Lake Lothing will enable occupants and townspeople alike to reflect on the waterfront activities so associated with the town.

The low-profile building, occupying 17,000m², will be set back from Waveney Drive, and the surrounding grounds will be landscaped in an environmentally sensitive manner. An attractive open space with a public footway along the restored waterfront is another feature of the proposed project.

This is the first time that an image has been released and the partners are excited by what they see.

Stephen Archer, Waveney District Council’s Corporate Director for Regeneration and the Environment said: “This artist’s impression really gives us the opportunity to imagine how the building might look and makes us all the more determined to ensure this fantastic vision becomes a reality.”

Cllr Jeremy Pembroke, Leader of Suffolk County Council, said: “We hope that this first picture will give everyone an idea of the high-quality building that they could expect to see on the site. Although this is very early days still, it’s an important next step for the project.”

The Waveney Campus building will provide a flexible office environment for all three partners as well as laboratory and technical facilities for Cefas. Inside, the main entrance will lead directly into a shared circulation spine, or internal “street”, that links two wings of office accommodation and laboratory facilities. The two- and three-storey wings are arranged in turn around courtyards that maximise natural ventilation and light. The courtyards will provide alternative workspace, outdoor seating and cycle-parking facilities. Finally, the building’s north-facing cafeteria is fully glazed and overlooks Lake Lothing.

The Campus will be an exemplar of sustainable construction, offering low energy and water consumption, rainwater harvesting, sustainable materials throughout, biomass boilers, heat recovery from a ventilation plant and a host of other measures designed to achieve low running costs and gain the highly regarded BREEAM excellent badge.

Notes to editors

All three Waveney Campus partners are presently occupying old and inefficient buildings around Lowestoft, and are seeking to achieve significant savings by participating in a collocation. For more about the individual partners and the work they do, see:

The structure is made predominantly from concrete to assist the natural ventilation, which is fundamental to the low-energy design strategy for the project.
The BREEAM excellent rating (see www.breeam.org/index.jsp) will mean that:

at least 10% and preferably 15% of the Campus energy requirements will be met from zero and low-carbon technologies
at least 25% of the value of materials will be derived from recycled content
100% of the wood used during construction and as part of the building must be from recycled and/or sustainable sources.

The image shows initial studies of the main building’s cladding: a combination of metal and reconstituted stone panels. The colours of those materials are still being considered. In addition, the building’s final site orientation will be decided once surveys of the site have been completed.

Press contacts:

WDC:

Phil Harris – Tel: 01502 523637 / Email: phil.harris@waveney.gov.uk

SCC:

Moira Bryan – Tel: 01473 264398 / Email: moira.bryan@comms.suffolkcc.gov.uk

Cefas:

Anne McClarnon – Tel: 01502 524370 / Email: anne.mcclarnon@cefas.co.uk