This is a great opportunity for Lancaster University to refresh its residential accommodation. The project with UPP is a key step in Lancaster University’s growth strategy.
Professor Paul Wellings - Vice Chancellor, Lancaster University
The Eco Residence at Lancaster University received a BREEAM Excellent rating in 2008, and was the first replicable, scalable model of its kind in the HE sector. In 2010 UPP's innovative Eco Residence at Leeds Metropolitan University won the UK BREEAM Award in the Multi-Residential category. Part of the scheme has now been certified as meeting PassivHaus criteria, marking it out as the UK’s first student accommodation facility to achieve this standard of sustainable design.
The Eco Residence at Lancaster University is the last phase of the existing partnership agreement between the university and UPP dating from 2003, when UPP undertook the estate transfer and redevelopment of Lancaster University’s student accommodation.
The largest accommodation project in the higher education sector, UPP’s work with Lancaster University has delivered 4,347 rooms over three phases, with an investment of £180m. In the final phase of the scheme, which provides 963 additional student rooms, the university has adopted UPP’s Eco Residence model, which uses timber from sustainable, managed sources during construction, reducing the carbon footprint of the build by 30% when compared to traditional sites. The Eco Residence also features a range of additional energy and water saving technologies, and students are encouraged to live an eco-friendly lifestyle - they can monitor utility consumption online on a real time basis, while recycling schemes are integrated into the accommodation.
This pioneering design has won UPP and Lancaster University the accolade of a 'BREEAM excellent rating' for the project – one of only four multi-residential schemes in the UK to be rated so highly – as well as a Secured by Design Award for a range of innovative features aimed at minimising crime.
| Scheme type: | Estate transfer (Phases I-III), new development (Phase IV) |
| Rooms: | 4,348 |
| Investment to date: | £180 million |
| Duration of partnership: | 2003 - 2051 |
| Occupancy: | 100% at start of academic year 2009/2010 |
| Rent roll: | £16.6 million for 2009/2010 |
EcoResidence: a template for easily constructed sustainable university accommodation.
