Contractor chosen for Energy House 2.0
Bowmer & Kirkland has been picked to build the £12m research facility for the University of Salford, designed to simulate extreme weather conditions around the world.
The £11.8m contract will see B&K deliver the sister building to Energy House 1.0 at the University’s Frederick Road campus, which will provide materials simulation services and research for the built environment.
The facility is expected to replicate temperatures between -20C and 40C, along with wind, rain, snow, and simulated solar light. Energy House 2.0 has been part-funded by the ERDF.
Initial plans for the project were announced last year but were scaled back in February, following design development and a value engineering exercise.
As a result the University said its “key primary output” will still be weather simulation although some of the systems providing this will be retrofitted at a later date.
The initial plans from last year featured a sensor laboratory, a thermal laboratory, a data analysis and visualisation unit, product development space and more standard meeting facilities.
The professional team also includes Aecom.
The University’s Frederick Road Campus falls within a wider £800m masterplan for the area, designed by architect 5plus; this 240-acre site covers the University’s existing campus, areas around the Crescent, Peel Park, and Frederic Road North.
