Latest news

March 2008

Halcrow Yolles wins prestigious client of the year award

The new oncology building at the Churchill Hospital in Oxford, has won the prestigious Client of the Year Award at the Chartered Institution of Building Services Engineers (CIBSE) Low Carbon Performance Awards.

The awards recognise the efforts made by companies and individuals in reducing CO2 emissions.

The unit is the UK’s most energy efficient hospital built to date following the adoption of Halcrow Yolles’ sustainable low energy solutions.

The project was nominated for the award due to its use of a ground sourced heat pump (GSHP) to provide the required heating and cooling. The GSHP system was proposed and designed by Halcrow Yolles. Its use means that heating and cooling the hospital will require only 30 per cent of the energy and emit 40 per cent of the CO2 from a conventionally engineered solution, which is an outstanding achievement.

The GSHP exchanges energy to and from the ground, depending on the time of year, via a network of 220 boreholes. Each borehole extends to a depth of 250m and is connected to heat pumps within the building. The heat pumps transfer the energy delivered by the boreholes to the heating and cooling systems within the building. In addition, the pumps can move energy from one part of the hospital to another meaning that excess heat generated in, for example, a linear accelerator bunker, can be used to heat another part of the building.

The energy efficient design of the hospital also incorporated a rainwater harvesting system which considerably reduced the mains water usage.

The new oncology building totals 35,000m2 and includes ten operating theatres, six linear accelerator bunkers, three MRI suites, isolation rooms, 220 in-patient beds, large out-patient departments and an office suite. In addition to designing the GSHP system, Halcrow Yolles designed all the mechanical and electrical systems on the project

In order to mee the project’s tight deadlines, Halcrow Yolles worked closely with the contractor to design the systems so that approximately 60 per cent of the installation could be built off site in a factory and installed in modules. This technique shortened the programme and increased the quality of the installation.

The £120 million unit is due to open in spring 2008.

Return to: latest news...