Estates: Main Contractor for Younger Hall Refurbishment

Description

Main Contractor for Younger Hall refurbishment at the University of St Andrews. University of St Andrews – Estates: Main Contractor for Younger Hall Refurbishment The Younger Hall is located on North Street in St Andrews. Constructed between 1923 and 1929, it is Category B Listed and is part of the St Andrews Conservation Area. The building is owned by the University of St Andrews and is used for graduations, teaching, exams, performances and concerts. The existing building has a steel frame with concrete floor and roof slabs. External walls are polished and dressed ashlar, primarily Cullalo sandstone with Portland stone to the south elevation columns and pediment. Roofs are a mixture of clay pan tile pitched roofs and lead flat roofs. Rainwater goods are cast iron, external railings and gates are wrought iron and windows are steel framed. The purpose of the project is to improve flexibility, functionality, accessibility and toilet provision for the building. The building will continue to be used for graduations, exams, performances and concerts but the primary use will be for lectures and teaching. To improve access to the building, new external landscaping will provide accessible entrances on 3 sides of the building. Within the building, new ramps and passenger lifts will provide access to areas previously only accessible by stair, new platform lifts will provide access to the stage and a new stage lift will allow movement of loose furniture and equipment from storage in the basement. A new stage, removable rostra and seating will be provided in the Hall, the rostra and seating being stored in the basement using the new stage lift. Fixed seating will be provided to the lower gallery areas where the existing tiers will be adjusted to improve sight lines to the new stage. All of the existing services will be removed, and the building will be provided with new services throughout. In conjunction with this, new audio-visual equipment will be installed to facilitate the various building uses. Services will be concealed with the main distribution running in existing and new risers and ducts and wiring in rooms being raggling into the existing walls and ceilings and re-plastered over. New decorative finishes, curtains and blinds will be provided throughout. New materials will be in keeping with the existing building and will include stone to the external landscaping and extension walls, glazed screens and doors to the extension and glazed doors in the existing foyer, hardwood wall panelling, flooring, doors and joinery work, new wall and floor tiling and reuse of existing salvaged wall tiling in some areas. The existing retained building finishes will require to be carefully protected throughout the project, in particular the existing marble, terrazzo, tiling and sprung dance floor. The works generally, but in particular the services installation, will require detailed sequencing and co-ordination with the existing building fabric and the new extension to achieve the project aims. An asbestos refurbishment survey has been completed and there will be an element of asbestos removal and fabric reinstatement in the project. The Main Contractor will require to work collaboratively with the Design Team, the University estates department and other potential partner projects in and around the site and must be able to demonstrate a robust understanding and experience of working with historic listed buildings in a busy town centre on a noise sensitive site surrounded by occupied buildings.