A proposal has been approved for the redevelopment of the College of Agriculture, Food and Rural Enterprise’s (CAFRE) Greenmount Campus outside Antrim.
Hamilton Architects are leading a team to deliver a 15,000m2 highly sustainable campus that embodies local heritage and the sense of place within Greenmount’s mature landscaped setting.
The scheme will be one of the most sustainable campuses in the UK and Ireland, utilising leading building design principles and renewable energy technologies.
The campus redevelopment consists of the phased delivery of three buildings that encompass exemplary environmental and energy efficiency credentials: Student Accommodation, Teaching Building, and Central Hub.
The new buildings are consolidated around a series of interlinked landscaped courtyards and accessible secure pedestrian thoroughfares. The site plan arrangement is informed by the context and daily journeys through the campus, and aims to reconnect the campus community with Greenmount’s valued landscape and Grade B1 listed heritage assets.
The Central Hub provides a welcoming reception, conference centre, staff offices and dining hall. The 200-bed Student Accommodation building includes residents’ leisure and social spaces. The Teaching Building hosts a range of educational facilities to accommodate CAFRE’s agriculture and horticulture programmes.
The future-proofed scheme is designed to meet PassivHaus Premium certification by incorporating high levels of insulation, airtight construction and passive design measures.
Clean sustainable energy will be generated through a ground source heat pump system and roof-mounted PV array combined with a battery storage system which are designed to attain BREEAM ‘Outstanding’ accreditation.
