| Press Release |
10th March 2002 sees the start of the most important phase of a project to
increase the number of student rooms in King's and St. Catharine's Colleges
by the installation of prefabricated modules on the top of their adjoining
Keynes and Gostlin buildings. This will require a giant crane to be sited
on the southern lawn outside King's College. Weighing some 650 tonnes, this
mobile crane is equipped with a luffing jib, making it the largest of its
type in the country.
The crane will be brought to King's Parade to lift into position 24 new study
bedrooms for King's and 21 plus three tutorial rooms for St. Catharine's
in a collaborative development. The new construction method, which has been
used in London to extend hotels, is competitive in costs with conventional
building methods and is the answer to two acute problems facing both colleges.
The first is the ever-growing need for more accommodation to house more students
in college. Out of term, there is also a need to provide more rooms for delegates
to academic conferences and summer schools to match other facilities already
provided. For these rooms to be fully satisfactory for conferences, they
ideally require to be situated at the heart of a college and not in a distant
hostel.
The second problem is construction noise and disruption. A conventional building
programme would have lasted at least a year and would have had to be suspended
in May and June because of the need for absolute quiet during the University
examinations period. Nowadays, there is little time when college buildings
are not in use and construction work is inevitably a noisy operation. Noise
for a full 12-month period in occupied college buildings would simply not
be tolerable.
The answer in this case was to extend existing, flat-roofed residential buildings
upwards using modular room units prefabricated in a factory and then placed
in position using a crane. This immediately exported noise and construction
time to an off-site location. The existing structure has been strengthened
as necessary and the services, staircases and lifts extended in a relatively
short but essential on-site preparatory programme. Instead of the conventional
shoebox shape, the new en-suite rooms have been designed with sleeping galleries
to fully utilise the available space. By carrying out the craning phase at
the start of the Easter vacation, the new rooms will be ready for occupation
for the beginning of the next academic year.
The crane will move onto site in the early morning of 10th March and the
City Council have authorised the closure of King's Parade all day from
Bene’t Street northwards to enable the crane to be brought into King's
Parade and assembled. In preparation for its arrival, the low wall on the
southern side of the Cobbles near the Porters’ Lodge has had to be
temporarily removed. The crane is due to leave at midnight on the 15th March
and again, road closure has been authorised from 6 pm to midnight that evening.
However, if winds are too strong during the lifting period to allow the modules
to be craned into position, it may be necessary for the crane to remain for
the following week.
For safety reasons, King's Parade will be closed to traffic and pedestrians
will only be able to walk on the east side of the road during the erection
and dismantling of the crane. Access to King's via the main entrance will
be prohibited during this time, with diversions to Webb’s Court Gate
via King's Lane or to the North Gate via Senate House Passage. When the crane
is parked and during craning operations, King's Parade will be open as normal
and access to King's College via the Porters’ Lodge will be permitted.
When required, the modules will be driven to an unloading area on Trumpington
Street next to St. Catharine's College. The operation will be radio-controlled
in order to minimise congestion, but temporary disruption to traffic is likely
when lorries carrying the modules arrive and depart. Drivers are strongly
urged to avoid the area if at all possible.
The architects are James Cubitt and Partners, the original designers of the
buildings in 1968. The main contractor is Amos Danby and Sons and the crane
operators are Hewden Crane Hire. The operation will be controlled by Mr Mark
Baker from the site office, telephone number 01223 308244. General information
about the project may be obtained from the Bursars of the two colleges but
operational queries should be addressed to site office.
4 March 2002
Mr Charles Crawford, Bursar St Catharine’s College |