Cardiff Design Festival

Brief

The University of Wales, Newport embarked upon a programme to deliver a challenging strategic development plan which would expand and improve the institution's facilities, provide the highest quality student experience. This coincided with the aspirations of Newport City Council which envisaged the University as a key part of the planned cultural, arts and learning quarter along the riverside. Mark Smith of Mott MacDonald drew upon his own architectural background to capture the primary objectives and emphasis on quality of design and creation of inspiring learning and interactive spaces. Mark suggested that "A principal aim for the design was to create a lively and vibrant environment which feels open and accessible". Momentum developed a detailed specification and interior furnishing scheme to work with BDP architect’s interior ideas. It was crucial that the interior reflected not only the quality of the design and construction, but also the ambitious scale of the building.

Result

The building has indeed won high praise: “This is what I see as 21st century higher education” Jane Hutt, Minister for Education and Lifelong Learning, The Welsh Assembly Government. • BDP won Education Project of the Year at the 2011 Mixology awards for the building. It was stated that “the project was successfully completed within time and budget and represents outstanding value for money. The scheme has delivered 12,500sq m of state-of-the-art accommodation, successfully achieving a BREEAM Excellent rating”. Mark Smith commented “It was a pleasure working with PJ, Nicole and the team at Momentum. They were an important part of the design process, working objectively to deliver the brief. They provided quality furnishings within budget which contributed significantly to the interior architecture, the student experience and the overall creation of an inspirational place for learning".

Solution

Momentum supplied a unique combination of furniture, fittings and accessories from their extensive European supplier list to fit out the entire building, on time and within budget. A custom-designed boardroom, seminar rooms, staff offices, the library plateau and as well as breakout and cafeteria areas were specified, plus an external terrace overlooking the River Usk and views of the city were all furnished with designed furniture to create an eventual building that is probably better than most offices in Wales. Special cable-managed conference tables from the UK work alongside Swedish sofas, Italian desks and lights, German task chairs with Spanish sofas and meeting chairs, truly a centre of international design. The same furniture can be seen in the City Campus as can be found in world-famous buildings like the Guggenheim in New York, Milwaukee Art Museum, the Pioneer flagship store in Tokyo and the Royal Society in London.

Project website

http://www.newport.ac.uk/news/newsstories/Pages/CityCampuswinsprestigiousRIBAAwa...