Chadwick Hall Student Accommodation (Downshire House)
A series of new student accommodation buildings at the University of Roehampton, also known as Chadwick Hall. Skelly & Couch was appointed to carry out full mechanical, electrical, public health and environmental services for the University of Roehampton on this design and build.
The project provides 210 student rooms within three buildings located adjacent to the Grade II*-listed 18th Century Downshire House within the Alton Conservation Area.
Strong features of the buildings include high levels of thermal insulation and airtightness and generous levels of daylight, with 85% of spaces meeting the target daylight factor of 2% and 81.5% achieving a daylight factor greater than 3%. All bedrooms and communal spaces utilise natural ventilation with occupancy-controlled boost ventilation to WC ensuites. The use of a Combined Heat and Power (CHP) system and a local district heating network have contributed to the scheme meeting the London Plan’s 40% carbon reduction target and it being awarded a BREEAM Very Good Rating and an EPC rating of A. Student rooms were clustered on an apartment basis with local heat interface units and thermal storage providing an increased level of occupancy control and enhancing the efficiency of the CHP installation. The ensuite areas of the buildings were formed using prefabricated pods, to maximise the programme and quality benefits of offsite construction. A sustainable urban drainage scheme was adopted including a brown roof attenuation system, and surface water attenuation tank, to enable attenuation of the 1 in 100-year storm event (with a 30% allowance for climate change) and reduce the peak rate of flow to less than the 1 in 100-year greenfield run-off rate.
Skelly & Couch took the design to RIBA stage E and was then appointed by the contractor to complete the design.
Chadwick Hall was named as a 2018 RIBA Stirling Prize finalist after winning a RIBA National Award.
RIBA judges referred to “the expertly-designed student accommodation of Chadwick Hall, London, built cleverly between a listed building and modernist flats and on an extremely low budget”. It was a best Higher Education project finalist in the inaugural AJ Architecture Awards 2017 and winner of the 2017 Wandsworth Mayor’s Design Award.
In 2019 it was nominated for The European Union Prize for Contemporary Architecture - Mies van der Rohe Award. Chadwick Hall was honoured with the Silver prize for a Residential Building in the international Fritz-Höger Awards 2020 for Brick Architecture.
When shortlisted for the RIBA Stirling Prize, the judges' citation said: "This is a good example of timeless architecture. It is inspiring while remaining simple". See Architects' Journal video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UYKICpicTew
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