Sixth form college takes gold for green design

A Manchester sixth form college has scooped a top national award for excellence in eco-design.

Loreto College in Hulme won the Further Education category in the BREEAM (Building Research Establishment Environmental Assessment Method) Awards 2010 for its Ellis and Kennedy building which is the final phase of its expansion. The building - which houses a learning resource centre, ICT facilities and a library - features a wide range of environmentally-friendly design features. These include: Photovoltaic cells, rainwater harvesting and low water use and ground source heat pumps. 'Waste' heat is reclaimed and reused.

The building was designed by Taylor Young architects, working closely with Manchester City Council planners. Their brief was to design a state-of-the-art teaching facility which promotes sustainable design to the college and the whole community.

Only buildings which had achieved the highest BREEAM rating, Excellent, were shortlisted for the awards, with the ceremony taking place at Ecobuild in London.

Principal Ann Clynch said: "I am delighted that the BREEAM award recognises the excellence of our new, environmentally sustainable, state of the art building. In the past year Loreto has achieved excellent examination results, an OFSTED inspection report calling the college 'outstanding in every respect' and the President's Beacon Award alongside the Beacon for Achievement in Advanced level results. We now know that the new building on our campus matches this established excellence in teaching and learning."
 
Councillor Richard Cowell, Executive Member for Environment, said: "Manchester aspires to the be the greenest city in the UK. We strongly support sustainable design and there's no doubt that this is a fantastic example. I congratulate Loreto Sixth Form College on this accolade and welcome the fact that the award will bring their achievement to a wider audience."

BRE chief executive Carol Atkinson said: "This building has comprehensively demonstrated its remarkable environmental credentials."

Manchester Metropolitan University's (MMU) proposed new community campus in Hulme will also boast strong green credentials.

There is an aspiration to make the £120 million new Birley Fields campus, just down the road, the most sustainable in Britain.