Pentref Addysg @ Glynllifon: Caernarfon

Community Information

All Wales LABC Building Excellence Awards 2012 - Winner: Best Educational Building

North Wales LABC Building Excellence Awards 2012 - Winner: Best Educational Building

Coleg Glynllifon, Llandwrog was a finalist in the National LABC 2012 Awards

News article..First Minister hails Glynllifon's green success - Official Opening (24th May 2012)

News article...Local Authority Building Control - Building Excellence Awards 2012 - North Wales and County Awards

Work on site started in August 2010 and was completed by September 2011.

Project Information

This project was the second phase of the Glynllifon campus development by Coleg Llandrillo who recently merged with Coleg Meirion-Dwyfor. The whole development known as the Pentref Addysg @ Glynllifon (PA@G) Learning Village was funded by the Welsh Assembly Government.

The new college is divided into three two storey buildings connected by two cores and corridors. The accommodation is organised into shallow and deep rooms to cater for the various uses comprising classroom accommodation, auditorium, laboratories and animal welfare facilities.. Each block has a green roof. Rainwater from the gutters is saved to a grey water harvesting system for re-use flushing toilets. Also at roof level are fresh air chimneys at each structural bay and these assist naturally to vent the rooms below. A new fence line was formed in a traditional timber style to the east which has been carefully assessed to suit the flight path of the indigenous Bat population.

The building performance has been assessed using the Building Research Establishment Environmental Assessment Method (BREEAM) Education 2008, and has achieved a rating of 'Excellent'.

The key features which have been incorporated into the building fabric in order to achieve this rating are:

- High thermal resistance of the building fabric, using composite insulated timber panels detailed to achieve a low air leakage rate, thereby reducing heat loss during winter;

- A natural ventilation strategy to teaching areas using 'passive stack' vents ventilation, eliminating the need of mechanical ventilation to teaching areas;

- Energy efficient services, controlled by a Building Management System (BMS) to reduce the energy demand;

- Use of low carbon technologies, including a biomass boiler, thermal hot water panels and photo-voltaic cells to reduce the carbon demand of the building;

- Use of low water demand sanitary ware, supplemented by collection of the rainwater, which is used to flush the w.c. and urinals.

- Thermal hot water panels used to heat the hot water;

- Photovoltaic cells to produce electricity.

Environmental Impacts

The following studies have been undertaken to mitigate any ecological impact.
- Ecological Survey, including monitoring of bat populations around the site;
- Flood Risk Assessment;
- Archaeological Investigations and monitoring;

Traffic Assessments

From these studies, the following measures have been introduced:
- Tree planting to provide a Bat corridor around the site, along with the provision of additional nigh roosts;
- Sustainable drainage systems, to minimise and control the rainwater run-off from the site;