highereducationestates 23 AS we’ve discussed many times before, the financial model for the university sector is in deep need of restructuring – and the problem is now one the new government must address. But while it’s doing so, it’s heartening to report that the student accommodation sector is in good health, with new schemes under development in most of Britain’s major cities. The information service provider Glenigan notes that in the three months to June, student accommodation starts were worth £839m, some 78% up on the period a year ago and equivalent to 8% of all housing starts. The potential for new work in the sector was underlined last month when Unite Group, the FTSE 100 company that is the largest student landlord, raised £450m from shareholders to invest in additional space. A series of positive fundamentals are driving activity in the sector says Unite, pointing to the UK’s globally recognised higher education sector, a housing shortage, and high demand for university places for 18-25-yearolds. As well as strong demand from international students, domestic demand is set to rise thanks to a 16% growth in the number of 18-year-olds in the UK by 2030. One example we also report on in this latest issue concerns Viridis, a consortium of Equitix (infrastructure investor, developer and manager)), GRAHAM (equity and construction) and Derwent FM (facilities management), which has been selected as preferred bidder and delivery partner for the redevelopment of the University of Manchester’s Fallowfield Campus under a Design, Build, Finance and Operate (DBFO) model. This selection followed a competitive tendering process and represents an important step towards a significant upgrade of the University’s student accommodation offering. These exciting developments are matched by the ongoing excellence of new buildings commissioned by universities. To take just one of many, the University of Aberdeen’s new Science and Teaching Hub, designed by the architects Reiach and Hall, has just been shortlisted for the Royal Incorporation of Architects in Scotland’s prestigious building of the year award. The Hub enables, promotes and signifies the importance of scientific learning to the University, and makes a major contribution to pioneering scientific research in Scotland with new, state of the art facilities. The plethora of top-class university buildings still coming on stream - after many years of similarly excellent projects being delivered - is wonderful news not just for architects and students: the construction industry as a whole, including the many innovative materials suppliers, can take great pride in what is being built across the sector. Long may this success story continue. Editor Andrew Pring Sales director Julian Walter Production Nicola Cann Design Sandra Cid Managing director Toby Filby The publishers do not necessarily agree with views expressed by contributors and cannot accept responsibility for claims made by manufacturers and authors, nor do they accept any responsibility for any errors in the subject matter of this publication. Publishers Stable Publishing Limited, SBC House, Restmor Way, Wallington, Surrey SM6 7AH, England. t. 020 8288 1080 f. 020 8288 1099 e. [email protected] leader and content Excellent room service Andrew Pring Editor [email protected] inside this issue S/Oct 2024 26Community building Cambridge-based architects MCW has created a new cluster of social spaces at the heart of St John’s College, Cambridge. 28Site relationships Pick Everard discuss the need for relationships built on trust , particularly where demolition forms part of the picture. 29Door furniture The Door Group has supplied a package of internal and external doors as part of a project to rebuild University Station in Birmingham. 31Student heating Utility bills have fallen at The Refinery, a purpose-built student accommodation development in Leeds, thanks to an advanced energy management system. 26 32
STEPNELL has started work on a new teaching and sports facility at Loughborough College, following a £9.91m investment from the Department for Education. Through its ongoing relationships with Loughborough College, Stepnell is delivering the work as part of the college’s wider development plan, with more than £35m being invested in large projects across the campus, such as the East Midlands Institute of Technology and Digital Skills Hub. Stepnell is implementing a fabric-first approach in the construction of the sports hub, prioritising the building's envelope, ensuring maximum thermal efficiency, reducing energy consumption, and enhancing the overall sustainability of the facility. Tom Sewell, regional director at Stepnell, said: “Our expertise in further education and leisure positions us strongly to deliver sustainable facilities that are exceptional in both specification and as a facility to develop talent at the intersection of sport and academia.” The construction of the new facility is set to be completed by next summer, opening its doors to students shortly after, with its facilities set to offer unparalleled access to world-class sports facilities and flexible learning spaces for students. Corrie Harris, principal and CEO at Loughborough College said: “This project aligns with Loughborough College's vision to be at the forefront of sports education and training. We are proud to offer our current and future students the opportunity to access this pioneering development, and we look forward to continuing to nurture upcoming athletic talent.” The college was one of just 62 colleges across the country to be successful in the bid for grant funding from the DfE’s Further Education Capital Transformation Fund (FECTF), and this project is part of an overall £35 million of investment in the development of the campus, facilities, and resources. Stepnell starts work on new sports hub at Loughborough THE University of Hertfordshire’s flagship, multi-million-pound Spectra building met an important milestone recently, as it reached practical completion. The keys for the five-floor building, which will house the School of Physics, Engineering and Computer Science and transform learning, teaching and research in STEM fields, have now officially been handed over to the University from lead contractor Morgan Sindall Construction. The development was procured under the Southern Construction Framework (SCF), a quality-managed collaborative construction framework for public bodies to procure major building works using a two-stage open book process to deliver best value. Set to open its doors for the start of the new academic year, Spectra will be the largest single structure on campus and will be a hub for innovation, research and enterprise. Its cutting-edge facilities and equipment will expand Herts’ range of study and research options and increase its capacity for high quality, real-world research impact. New facilities within the building will mirror the working environments in students’ future careers. They include modelling, simulation and research labs, flight simulators, an automotive workshop complete with electric vehicle facility, a wind tunnel, welding bay and controls testing suite. Students will have access to state-of-the-art cyber security facilities while the upper floors will provide space for workshops, research and computer science, as well as social and meeting spaces to collaborate and socialise. Beyond Herts, it will benefit the local community, become a catalyst for regional growth by providing specialist services to regional businesses and fill crucial skills gaps in STEM industries nationwide. Professor Quintin McKellar, ViceChancellor at the University of Hertfordshire, said: “This remarkable space will inspire our students to become the next generation of leading engineers, computer scientists, mathematicians and physicists, and is a testament to our investment in high quality learning, innovation and the wider community.” Keys exchanged for University of Hertfordshire’s flagship Spectra building 24 highereducationestates news
VIRIDIS, a consortium of Equitix (infrastructure investor, developer and manager)), GRAHAM (equity and construction) and Derwent FM (facilities management), has been selected as preferred bidder and delivery partner for the redevelopment of the University of Manchester’s Fallowfield Campus redevelopment under a Design, Build, Finance and Operate (DBFO) model. This selection followed a competitive tendering process and represents an important step towards a significant upgrade of the University’s student accommodation offering. The University and Viridis consortium will now work together to further develop its DBFO delivery plans with the aim of reaching financial close by summer 2025. On completion, the wider Fallowfield campus will offer up to 5,400 student beds by replacing the existing older accommodation on-site and delivering 3,300 updated bedrooms to meet the growing demand for high-quality, modern bedrooms across the popular campus. The redevelopment will be delivered in multiple phases. Demolition of Owens Park Tower and surrounding buildings, which have been closed for several years, is ongoing and due to complete early in 2025. Dr Simon Merrywest, Director for the Student Experience, University of Manchester said: ‘We are delighted to have reached another key milestone in the progression of our plans for the Fallowfield Campus Redevelopment with the selection of Viridis as preferred bidder and our delivery partner. “These plans show our commitment to providing our new and returning students with modern, high-quality accommodation. This much needed update to one of our most popular student campuses will help us to continue to meet the needs of our student population by delivering well-connected, serviced, modern accommodation in a supportive and inclusive environment.” Consortium selected for Manchester Fallowfield campus redevelopment DESPITE nervousness amongst university chiefs and politicians about the sector’s underlying financial position, demand for student accommodation in Britain’s major cities is creating some significant opportunities for new construction work, says the information service provider Glenigan.In the three months to June, student accommodation starts were worth £839m, some 78% up on the period a year ago and equivalent to 8% of all housing starts. The potential for new work in the sector was underlined last month when Unite Group, the FTSE 100 company that is the largest student landlord, raised £450m from shareholders to invest in additional space. A series of positive fundamentals are driving activity in the sector. Unite points to the UK’s globally recognised higher education sector, a housing shortage, and high demand for university places for 1825-year-olds. As well as strong demand from international students, domestic demand is set to rise thanks to a 16% growth in the number of 18-year-olds in the UK by 2030. Unite’s development pipeline has grown to a record £1.5bn in what it says are “strong university markets”, including its first joint venture in the sector which it is doing with Newcastle University. The newly raised funds will be used to acquire seven student housing units across Bristol, Cardiff, and Liverpool which need work. Unite is also committing to two new schemes, with planning consent, in Bristol and Glasgow with a development cost of around £200m. Meanwhile, the funds will also be used for two other student housing developments: a 444-bed, £170m scheme in Southwark due to be ready for the 2027/28 academic year and another scheme in a ‘prime regional market’ with a development cost of around £110m. And in Leeds, work is set to get underway this autumn on a £34m scheme of almost 200 student apartments at Kirkstall Road where Brigade Central is the developer. The purpose-built scheme of up to ten storeys will involve over 6,500 sqm of space and work is set to run for 20 months. Demand for student accommodation boosting order books highereducationestates 25 news
ST JOHN'S comprehensive masterplan strategy had set out a series of aspirational objectives in 2017, underpinned by the notion of strengthening the College community. This project, which took 16 months and was completed in January last year, represents a major step in response to a recognised need to provide an inclusive, supportive and energising social space at the centre of the campus. This brief was met by a creative and thoughtful team of architects and planners, led by MCW with Purcell, Turley Planning Consultants, Tobit Curteis Associates and KJ Tait. The project was driven by ongoing collaboration with Historic England and the Cambridge City Council Planning and Conservation group. Turner & Townsend project managed the scheme from design stage to completion, with Barnes Construction as the main contractor. Alongside a new bar and a completely rebuilt buttery dining room is a café – a first for the college since its foundation in 1511. The new social spaces aim to fuse the contemporary need for an airy and vibrant social hub and eatery for students and academics alike, using modern construction methods and contemporary material choices, with the need to preserve a sense of history and character. The most significant element of the scheme is the new glulam oak superstructure of the buttery dining room, chosen because of its inherent warmth and tactile quality- reflecting the original oak columns and beams within the bar and cafe, as well as its low carbon credentials and potential to be assembled as a kit of parts. The new structure, a collaboration with Swiss timber specialists Blumer Lehmann and local structural engineers Smith and Wallwork, is ‘free-standing’ with only minimal, delicate stainless-steel ties back to the original brickwork, replaces a 1970’s steel-framed roof that had been brutally built into the 16th century brickwork of both the Second Court building and the St John’s gets sociable Cambridge-based architects MCW has created a new cluster of social spaces at the heart of St John’s College, Cambridge, transforming a 500-year-old tradition of community dining on the site in line with contemporary tastes 26 highereducationestates design solutions
boundary wall to Trinity College. The dramatic curved, trapezoidal timber structure, formed of prefabricated components, was brought on site across what is reputed to be the second oldest bridge over the Cam – designed by Christopher Wren and executed by Robert Grumbold – who also built the pair of Grade I listed, eagle-topped gate piers which had to be completely dismantled and carefully relocated as part of the project. Gaining approval to dismantle and rebuild Grade I listed fabric was one of the many challenges that the design team overcame. The MCW team worked hard to preserve a character authentic to St John’s, taking a ‘fabric-first’ approach to construction, which protects the integrity, stability and condition of historic fabric, whilst also boosting energy efficiency and carbon reduction. This meant retaining the building’s signature red brick and centuries-old wood panelling – whilst also incorporating elements that promote energy efficiency and health and wellbeing, including a ‘green wall’ watered by collected rainwater from the carefully detailed pre-patinated copper roof. The social spaces sit within a site that includes the Grade I listed Second Court which has been continuously used as part of College accommodation since it was constructed in 1599. The surrounding park and gardens are Grade II* listed. Therefore, a comprehensive heritage impact assessment was critical to unlocking the potential for change to enable the site to continue to evolve, bringing relevance for a new era without harming the historic integrity of the building. Purcell worked as Conservation Architect for the existing building, upgrading the environmental performance and repairing the fabric as well as working collaboratively with MCW on the interface between old and new to develop a solution that would touch the historic fabric as lightly as possible, outlining areas where change was possible without causing unnecessary harm. Improving inclusivity and accessibility was a primary component of the brief. A careful re-grading within Second Court has created a level access where stone steps used to be and a new ramp alongside the terrace does the same for people approaching from the ‘Backs’, on Queen's Road. Despite the challenges of preserving historic detail and meeting the complex demands of development within and around a Grade I listed building, the project achieved a BREEAM Excellent rating: a sustainability assessment method for projects and buildings. Paula Mejia-Wright, Project Lead for MCW, explains: “The application of contemporary retrofitting into historic settings is going to be crucial for colleges to thrive beyond the 21st Century. With collaborative design work, we have been able to re-energise an important part of the College, creating a sustainable and elegant meeting place for the whole college community.” Heather Hancock, Master of St John’s, said: “We have gained bright, warm and welcoming space for our day-to-day lives in College. We are privileged to learn, live and meet in such a beautiful and inspiring environment, and this latest development is a worthy addition to the fabric of the College.” www.mcwarchitects.com www.turnerandtownsend.com www.barnesconstruction.co.uk Images: RichardFraser highereducationestates 27 design solutions
Catherine Sawley, principal project manager at multidisciplinary consultancy Pick Everard, discusses the need for relationships built on trust, particularly where demolition forms part of the picture WHEN universities or colleges look to improve their teaching facilities, the project often includes an element of demolition – a tricky undertaking in areas of high footfall like university campuses. The ideal scenario for demolition is having an empty building, with plenty of low footfall space around it, and a clear understanding of the building’s make-up. However, this demolition utopia is not always achievable. Sites may be tight, busy and sometimes the process of prepping a building for demolition uncovers new hurdles – for example discovery of asbestos in older buildings. The obvious challenge is how to approach the work safely for both those involved in carrying out the work, and those using the space around it. This is even more challenging for universities, considering they are not educational facilities closed off in the same way as schools. Indeed, many city campuses can be just as busy with the general public as with students, particularly if they act as thoroughfares between different parts of the city. A prime example of this is work we are currently undertaking at Bangor University. The demolition of the 1970s-built Alun Roberts Tower and adjoining building is currently underway, which will create space for new development in the future. The work here has included clearance of loose items, a soft strip of the building and the main demolition, which is due to complete later in the year. Due to its position in the middle of campus, two demolition methodologies have been deployed to ensure safety – taking a floor-by-floor approach from the top down, until reaching a height suitable for ‘from ground’ demolition. From there, the foundations will be broken, and the site remediated. The work has required careful management to secure the immediate work site and coordination with a whole host of stakeholders, going beyond just staff and students. Building demolition can include the need to decant existing provisions, often as quickly as possible. In the case of our work for Bangor University, this has seen several departments needing to be repositioned elsewhere, including creating labs for specific teams. So, wider planning and coordination is required to find the best place for these services, carry out any upgrades or building works needed, communicate the plans and execute them safely. This is all to ensure that the university does not go without that particular provision for an amount of time, or plans are in place to ensure an appropriate timeline is set – the same way work would not leave a restaurant without a kitchen. A detailed and strategic communications plan plays an important role. This ensures that all parties are completely clear on what is being done when, what it means for them, and any other relevant information. This includes providing relevant newsletters and communications to local residents, businesses, students and staff, to ensure they are informed of important measures taken such as temporary road closures for example, to enable better forward planning. For projects like the Alun Roberts Tower, where services have been decanted and relocated, this helps build the all-important trust-based relationships between project delivery teams, the client and wider stakeholders that are critical to success. Unfortunately, funding also often makes it difficult to take the ideal approach of masterplanning the full campus to ensure the best flow and use of space. Projects are often approached in bite sized pieces, so again trust and relationships are important, ideally bringing back delivery teams for continuity across these projects that eventually add up to a whole. www.pickeverard.co.uk Collaboration essential to the art of demolition 28 highereducationestates feature
DOOR Group, a unit of ASSA ABLOY Opening Solutions UK & Ireland, has supplied construction company VolkerFitzpatrick with a bespoke package of internal and external doors as part of a project to rebuild University Station in Birmingham. The station serves the University of Birmingham, Birmingham Women's Hospital, and the Queen Elizabeth Hospital as part of the Cross-City Line and is the only mainline railway station in Great Britain built specifically to serve a university. The project is led by Transport for West Midlands and the West Midlands Rail Executive, to improve access, offer greater capacity, better facilities, and ease of use. University Station is an open space that accommodates large numbers of the public, but also features several restricted areas for staff. In these instances, all doors must withstand high levels of traffic and allow for easy access and egress, while keeping staff safe in the event of an attack. VolkerFitzpatrick came to Door Group looking for a compliant solution for internal timber and external steel doors at the site. Door Group delivered a firecompliant solution with doorsets that boasted certified security ratings. Working with the Associated Architects, the specification team at Door Group helped create an objective and accurate door hardware schedule for VolkerFitzpatrick, to prepare specification briefs and design complete door-opening solutions. The Safeguard range is designed to significantly reduce the ability of forced entry using both mechanical and powered tools, rigorously tested using heavy-duty mechanical and powered tools, with a fire rating of up to one-hour as standard. Phil Wood MCIOB, Senior Project Manager at VolkerFitzpatrick, commented: “When it comes to a building like University Station that has a high footfall, we needed a safe and secure solution for the public that could withstand heavy traffic.” www.assaabloy.com/uk/en/about-us University of Dundee selects innovative access control solutions THE University of Dundee is updating its city campus estate implementing HID® Mobile Access® and signature HID Signo™ readers throughout its buildings to guarantee it has a modern, secure and reliable access control system to allow staff and students to enter using both RFID cards and smartphones. The project will involve buying and installing new mobile-ready HID Signo readers at around 40 buildings – a staged rollout being completed over a two-year period by specialist security installer, Scottish Communications Group. In addition, the University has purchased 10,000 HID Mobile Access licenses to offer its academic community the option to use their Apple and Android smart phones for touchless entry into its facilities. “We wanted a modern system which is safe, secure and easy for everyone to use,” said Colin Stebbing, the University’s Head of Precinct Services. “Complying with forthcoming legislation was also another important project requirement. With bills like Martyn’s Law soon to be enacted, ensuring the University is ready for this was important given that we have a duty to protect to ensure everyone is safe. The HID solution enables us to not only lock down buildings immediately, but it has built-in functionality which we can leverage over time, meaning we’ve invested in ‘future proof’ equipment which will last us long term.” Historically, the University used to print and issue plastic RFID cards so staff and students could access buildings. This process was laborious and timeconsuming, especially during peak times like Freshers Week, when some 2,500 – 3,000 undergraduate and postgraduate students enroll. Issuing cards was logistically complex due to the high demand and the need for thorough identity checks, which could take up to 10 minutes per card. Shifting to HID Mobile Access – which utilizes cloud-based HID Origo management software integrating with the AEOS system – completely changes this and delivers wireless credentialling. This significantly simplifies all the licensing, allocation of credentials, setting of building access rights, validating or revoking of IDs – all of which is now done virtually and remotely. www.scottishcommunications.com Birmingham University Station rebuild uses new door package highereducationestates 29 interiors
Prefectcontrols.com ecoStat3 is the new generation of intelligent thermostatic controls. Suitable for both electric and wet heating systems, this cleverly simple control ensures energy is not used unnecessarily. The microwave sensor* detects absence, lowering heat input when rooms are unoccupied. Window-open technology means heat isn’t escaping, and a dedicated infrared programming handset, for building managers, prevents any tampering with settings. Easy to install and simple to operate, ecoStat3 is the most affordable way to keep rooms comfortable while making significant energy savings. * The PRE5203EC3 model has integrated microwave occupancy sensor. PREFECT ecoStat is a registered UK trade mark owned by Prefect Controls Limited, with trade mark number UK00003943747 Designed specifically for Student accommodation, multi-occupancy dwellings, HMOs, etc.
Heating energy load halved in Leeds student flats THE Refinery is a purpose-built student accommodation development in Leeds. It opened in 2021. A combination of studio and bedroom cluster flats accommodate 407 residents. Fresh Student Living manages the scheme on behalf of specialist investment company Curlew Capital. Kristian Mills, Director of Asset Management at Curlew Capital is responsible for the mobilisation of properties and ensuring they are operated effectively. He explained: “Over the first two of years of operation we found that we were spending more on utilities than we had expected for a property of this size. Students were able to override the programming on the heaters, turning them up to maximum and leaving them running continuously. To exacerbate the high use of electricity, windows would be opened and closed to regulate temperature. We were witnessing huge wastage. Costly in monetary terms, but as a company fully committed to its 2030 net-zero targets we needed to seriously consider this impact. One of the big things we identified, within our capability, is the control of energy for heating”. Mills sought to reduce this: “There were several solutions where sensors are placed in the bedrooms. They provide information on humidity, CO2, light etc. and had PIRs so you could monitor occupancy. But there weren’t many that controlled what was going on in individual rooms. I’ve been in student accommodation 20 years and have come across many heater panels with boosted control functions. I’d never come across anything where you can centrally control the heating system.” Prefect Controls were confident that Irus could sort the problem and return results promptly. Irus is Prefect’s Building Energy Management System developed specifically for student accommodation. Control units in each room monitor conditions, and switch heaters on and off. The control units communicate with a central hub connected to the web based Irus Portal. Managers monitor and control individual rooms remotely. Irus doesn’t restrict heating. It avoids unnecessary energy consumption: reducing heat input when rooms are unoccupied; windows are opened; and when occupants leave a room that’s in Boost state. Said Mills: “There were three distinct factors that decided the deployment of Irus –the availability of data on bedroom usage, lowering of energy costs, and reduction of our carbon footprint.” The first year’s performance has been impressive. • Heating energy halved 598,892kWh to 301,910kWh • Total electricity 816,064kWh down to 575,420kWh • Proportion of electricity for heating - 73% down to 52% • 50% reduction per bedroom (1,464kwh to 738kWh) • Almost £70,000 saved Gareth Chaplin, Head of Energy and Sustainability at Prefect, who analysed the data for Curlew Capital, commented: “Although first year figures are impressive, I can see potential for even greater savings. As operators familiarise themselves with Irus, there are tweaks to settings and profiles that will maximise performance.” Mills is clear about residents’ comfort: “It’s important to emphasise there is no restriction in the provision of heating for our guests. If residents need more warmth, managers can increase temperature, and lengthen boost times etc. It’s essential that residents are comfortable. But to run an efficient property and avoid waste, we must be able to monitor energy input and control delivery. “Going forward, we want to make Irus the standard specification for each property. We don’t want to have to retrofit heating systems, just make sure that the best possible system is installed, one that provides most information and control. “To see 50% reduction in heating load and close to £70,000 saved is phenomenal! We anticipate a return on investment of just over 3 years. These results highlight just how effective Irus has been.” www.prefectcontrols.com highereducationestates 31 interiors
Universities and higher education institutes often face complex challenges in providing the right services to students and staff, while meeting emissions goals. Modernisation of ICT offers numerous opportunities for efficiency, availability and reduced environmental impact, writes Louisa Buckley of Schneider Electric THESE days, there’s more pressure than ever to evolve and innovate, but many institutions are behind the curve when it comes to IT infrastructure. Universities and colleges regularly experience challenges with space constraints, ageing infrastructure, and sustainability. However, advancements in areas such as internet of things (IoT) and instrumentation, have meant the term ‘smart’ can be applied to ever more categories, from uninterruptable power supplies (UPS) to cooling systems, and buildings. Cloud-based and artificial intelligence-enhanced (AI) management systems, such as data centre infrastructure management (DCIM), can span multiple environments, from on-premises to the cloud and beyond, gathering data, increasing visibility and showcasing insights for optimisation and efficiency. Digital design and modelling, drawing on sensors, equipment, infrastructure, and buildings, means that building management systems (BMS) can be integrated with power and cooling systems, which in turn can be managed with onsite renewable energy source (RES) generation to provide a complete picture of consumption, operations, and emissions. Tracking this level of data over time with analytic tools can allow AIenhanced systems to optimise within specific parameters, on availability, resilience, energy consumption, user needs, and overall emissions. This level of data allows a more complete picture of entire operations for the whole organisation, facilitating meaningful comparisons with other similar organisations, locally or globally, as well as adjacent sectors. Best practice from other areas can be examined and applied. Full Scope 1-3 emissions reporting becomes possible, with a complete picture of environmental impact. Common reporting standards and frameworks can then be adopted, or existing ones more easily applied. At Schneider Electric, we have extensive experience within the education sector. Here are some examples. University College Dublin’s main Belfield campus has facilities from the 1960s onward and is one of Europe’s leading research-intensive universities. Schneider Electric and partners, successfully designed and delivered a new cooling system that provides greater data centre efficiency that has unlocked valuable real estate for redevelopment and new facilities. The Uniflair InRow Direct Expansion (DX) cooling solution is more scalable, efficient, and provides resilient cooling for IT infrastructure. UCD’s solution is based on 10 independent InRow DX cooling units, rightsized to server load to optimise efficiency. The system is scalable to enable UCD’s IT Services Group to add further HPC clusters and accommodate future innovations in technology, including the introduction of increasingly powerful CPUs and GPUs. Similarly, Loughborough University, the world’s leading sports-related university, has undertaken a data centre modernisation project. The next-generation EcoStruxure for Data Centre solution has delivered increased resilience and efficiency, including a services agreement and EcoStruxure IT software to provide 24x7 data-driven insights with proactive maintenance and service support. The project was delivered in two phases with partners, and has significantly improved the overall structure, enabling an efficient data centre design. At the University of Lincoln, which faced resilience challenges due to a lack of standby power generating capabilities, affecting its ability to carry out work without service interruption, we helped modernise its UPS estate by adding resilience to the university’s network, providing power protection and continuity in the event of disruptions or disturbances to the mains power supply. These various experiences have allowed each of these leading universities to achieve greater operational efficiency and visibility of overall consumption and impact, as well as operational insights and optimisations that feed into net zero targets and ambitions. www.se.com/uk/en Simplify your IT infrastructure complexity 32 highereducationestates IT
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