Key Features

A sustainable new campus
Innovative learning resource centre
Incorporation of student ideas
Facilities on and around campus
Six minutes by train from central Edinburgh

A sustainable new campus

Background
The Queen Margaret University RE:LOCATE project - groundbreaking in Scotland as a complete university campus designed around the new agendas and technologies of higher education - is designed to exceed current environmental standards and to set a new benchmark in sustainable design. The development transforms a 35 acre site at Craighall, East Lothian, from low grade farm land into landscaped parkland.

Sustainability credentials
The project is regarded as one of Scotland’s most sustainable – the academic and sports/student union buildings have gained a BREEAM rating of “excellent” (with the highest score recorded of any University Project). For over a decade, the Building Research Establishment's Environmental Assessment Method (BREEAM) has been used to assess the environmental performance of both new and existing buildings. It is regarded by the UK's construction and property sectors as the measure of best practice in environmental design and management.

Using the Building Research Establishment's ‘Envest’ software to evaluate construction materials and specifications, independent assessor Faber Maunsell has shown Queen Margaret’s campus design to be capable of exemplary environmental performance.

Leading environmental technologies employed
Biomass heating: The campus' carbon emission - its carbon 'footprint' - is expected to be the lowest of any HE organisation in the UK through the use of a biomass heating system. Biomass is generally considered to be any kind of plant material, vegetation, or agricultural waste used as a fuel or energy source. At the new campus, a woodchip boiler will generate heat for distribution around the campus, with a projected 75% reduction in carbon dioxide emission compared with traditional gas fired heating.

Thin client computer technology: To minimise heat generation, and therefore reduce the need for ventilation, PC users on campus do not have hard disk drives at their desks. Instead, ‘thin client’ technology is used whereby software and hardware are stored at central servers.

A sustainable urban drainage system (SUDS): a SUDS pond is a key feature of the design, to capture rainwater draining off roofs and paved areas, holding it back on site rather than contributing to downstream flooding. As well as providing a solution to the problem of excess surface water, the pond is an attractive feature of the campus, and provides an excellent habitat for wildlife.

Energy efficiency: Energy use is minimised through intelligent design that incorporates air tightness, and maximises daylight and natural ventilation through the use of energy efficient technology including biomass heating and thin client computer technology. Queen Margaret’s targets for air tightness and u-values are a 25% and a 5% improvement respectively over minimum Building Regulation requirements.

Green transport: A green travel plan has been developed to encourage students, staff and visitors to make use of sustainable forms of transport.

Biodiversity: Biodiversity was encouraged through plans that included the creation of wetland, woodland, hedgerow and meadow habitats, and the provision of roosting boxes for indigenous wildlife. Special wildlife corridors mitigate potential conflict between wildlife and human traffic, and provision was made to continue to add ecological value as the site develops.

Other Environmental Features of the New Campus

Water Consumption: All of the water services (i.e. taps, sanitary fittings etc) have been designed to minimise water consumption. For example, the urinals are waterless.

Building Energy Management System (BEMS): BEMS has been installed to optimise the operation of the heating, ventilation and lighting systems in the building. As well as ensuring we operate these services

Lighting Controls: The lighting system within the building is intelligent. The further you sit from a window the brighter the lighting in that area becomes, and if you sit close to a window, the lighting dims to compensate. Interior lighting brightens as evening approaches. All of the lighting will be managed via BEMS and will be turned on and off via a timer.

Ventilation: The majority of the building is ventilated naturally. An exposed concrete slab at the top of the building absorbs the heat generated during the day and then cool at night allowing the building to maintain a consistent temperature.

More on sustainability

Innovative learning resource centre

The Learning Resource Centre is a one-stop shop for the learning, teaching and research needs of the staff and students of QMU.

There is 1000 study spaces, plus a range of learning, teaching and research services including:

• a learning café where staff and students can work while enjoying a coffee
• a mixture of networked and wireless access for PCs and notebooks
• extensive printing and photocopy facilities
• group working areas equipped for undergraduates, academic staff and researchers
• a silent reading room
• open access academic reserve collection
• seminar rooms for inductions and IT/information skills teaching
• a postgraduate study room
• comfortable seating areas
• educational resource centre
• TV studio
• video conferencing studio
• photographic studio

Incorporation of student ideas

The RE:LOCATE team worked for some years with the student body, from involvement in site selection and master planning, through to the development of detailed ideas for the new campus. This ensured that we made the most of the unique opportunity to create a purpose-built new campus meeting the needs of 21st century students.

Early consultation with students and staff on the campus design revealed a strong desire for a sustainable campus, with plenty of green space for all to enjoy. In response to this, the design focuses on creating parkland spaces, maximising biodiversity, encouraging green transport, and making the most of natural daylight and ventilation in interior spaces.

One idea incorporated into the design is situating the bus stop directly beside a welcoming café, putting an end to students waiting for buses in the cold and rain

Here are some other examples of how students were involved:

• Students were consulted from the very early stages of the project (as part of the estates options appraisal) through to selection of the Craighall site
• Two student representatives on the Estates Committee and Governing Body
• A presentation to the Student Council on the original masterplan in 2003
• Detailed discussions on the Students' Union and sports facilities during summer 2004
• Presentation to the Student Parliament on the current masterplan in autumn 2004
• Presentation to the Student Parliament on the current masterplan in autumn 2004

Facilities on and around campus

On campus, there is a multi-purpose sports hall, a fitness suite, an aerobic studio and an outdoor all-weather sports pitch (all to open late 2007). In addition, a trim track runs around the site. Unlike at Corstorphine, sports provision at the new campus is completely accessible for the disabled. Local residents are encouraged to use the facilities, creating opportunities for student/community partnerships.

The new Students' Union is situated alongside the sports facilities at the new campus. It has been designed from a brief developed by student representatives and has a very different feel to the old SU facilities at Corstorphine. It includes a café, a flexible venue, and a games area. There is work space for campaigns, sports, societies and welfare volunteers, as well as an advice centre. The venue can accommodate social events for up to 400 people. The new SU building is more efficient and provide students with flexible and usable space.

The campus is ten minutes' walk from Musselburgh, which has a wide range of shops, cafés, bars and leisure facilities, including the famous racecourse and the Brunton Theatre. Also within easy walking distance is the Fort Kinnaird shopping complex with a cinema and entertainment complex.

There is a wide range of sports facilities in the local area such as Musselburgh Sports Centre, The Jack Kane Centre and Peffermill Playing Fields.

Musselburgh is the gateway to East Lothian with its unspoilt coastline, historic castles and famous golf courses.

Six minutes by train from central Edinburgh

Musselburgh Station is situated just beside the new campus. Trains run from Waverley to Musselburgh with the journey taking only six minutes. In addition, the campus is only a ten minute walk from Newcraighall Station, which provides access to West Lothian and Stirlingshire. We hope to be able to negotiate improvements on the current train services as well as discounted fares for students.

Bus-users will no longer have to wait for their bus on campus in the wind and the rain. Instead they can watch out for their bus in a welcoming café situated directly beside the bus stop. Frequent bus services already pass close to the site from West and Central Edinburgh, Portobello, Penicuik and Dalkeith.

The National Cycle Route 1 runs right through the site from Edinburgh and there will be secure bicycle parking facilities on campus plus changing and showering facilities for cyclists.

The campus is only a fifteen minute walk from central Musselburgh.

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