Bouygues
Student Accommodation, Lewes Road, Brighton
Bouygues won a contract to finance, design and build new student accommodation at the University of Brighton under a contract worth £161m, selecting Pace Consult as its acoustic consultancy partner. The project at the university’s Moulsecoomb campus will be operated and maintained by the company for 50 years after construction. The work will be jointly carried out by three of the French firm’s British subsidiaries: Linkcity (Uliving), Bouygues UK and Bouygues Energies & Services.
The project consists of five blocks varying between eight and 18 storeys, providing a total of more than 800 student bedrooms.
As acoustic consultants to Bouygues, our role has been extensive on the project, from an initial noise survey prior to detailed design. Every aspect of the project has been reviewed by Pace Consult including acoustic separation of student apartments and between communal spaces including a student union and gym to sensitive residential bedrooms directly above. As a functioning university, the construction phase of this substantial project also had its sensitivities and noise and vibration affecting the Mithras Building located immediately adjacent to the development site was of key concern.
Pace Consult interviewed the Bouygues personnel and identified equipment and operating times for the various phases of the project. A noise emission model was created and noise and vibration monitoring equipment was installed within the university building. The equipment monitored noise and vibration during a critical phase of the construction, where a large vibro-compactor was used in close proximity to the site. Remote logging equipment stationed on-site allowed alarms to be sent to the site team when activity breached agreed internal criteria, ensuring that the construction activity did not adversely impact on the teaching operations of the university.
