´óÏó´«Ã½

Keynsham Civic Center - Engineering and Geotechnical Advisory

Bath and North East Somerset Council wanted to improve the use of the existing Town Hall site. They gathered community support and embarked on an ambitious plan to regenerate Keynsham town center. Their aim? To bring new jobs and investment to the area and create a low-carbon office environment for Council employees that meet the highest credentials for sustainability and energy efficiency. They engaged us to help.

As part of the project team, we delivered civil and structural engineering as well as geotechnical and geo-environmental advice. Plans were established to replace outdated 1960s buildings with a new landmark civic center comprising council offices, a library, and a One Stop Shop to enable the community to access local services in one place. The plans also included retail space located around two new pedestrian streets, a market square, new car parking, and highways improvements.

Delivering sustainable, energy-efficient office space was an important aspect of our consultancy work on the structural design of the revitalized Keynsham Civic Center. The office building was constructed entirely in cross laminated timber and incorporated composite precast concrete planks to provide thermal mass as part of the natural ventilation strategy for the building. This prefabricated structure sits directly on top of an in-situ concrete podium housing the retail element of the scheme. A lightweight timber structure enabled the use of traditional spread footings, saving significant substructure costs.

The offices achieved an outstanding Energy Performance Certificate rating of 5, which is almost zero carbon, and won a British Council for Offices Corporate Workplace award. Now, with this multiple award-winning regeneration project completed, Council is contributing to a more sustainable future with this low carbon office.