New Accommodation Block

Things have moved on considerably since April 09 when we were advised of a grant award from East of England Development Agency (EEDA) towards the cost of an eco-friendly, low carbon building. Preliminary designs for the building have now been completed and our Planning Application to Maldon DC for a new accommodation block at Bradwell – to replace the no longer usable “Bank” accommodation has been approved.

The new building is an innovative and exciting design by ZEDfactory, who are architects at the leading edge of sustainable building designs, which will provide for 9 bedrooms (five twin rooms and four family rooms), a meeting / common room and shower and toilet facilities. The construction will definitely be GREEN and will incorporate all the latest features in a low carbon build – full timber frame, turf roof, straw bale walls with rammed earth infill walls to the north, east and west sides and for the internal hallways and full glazing windows to the external south facing wall. The windows in this wall will open and there will be a heat recovery system for building ventilation. The passive solar gain / high thermal mass design will enable the building to have minimal energy usage and require no general supplemental heating. There will be a solid fuel stove with back boiler located in the meeting room which will provide a boost to the solar hot water system during the winter months.

The construction will be completed in two separate phases. Phase 1 which will include 5 bedrooms (3 twin rooms and 2 family rooms), the meeting / common room and toilet / shower facilities will be done now. This will provide much needed and flexible accommodation at Bradwell – depending on the actual bed configuration, there will be between 14 and 20 extra bed spaces. There will be a walkway connecting this building with the main block.

The Phase 2 extension of 4 further bedrooms will be completed at a later date when further funding becomes available.

The cost estimates for the Phase 1 project is £251,000. We were fortunate to have been awarded the EEDA grant and fortunate indeed to have recently been left a substantial legacy for Bradwell improvements. The time table is to start construction in September 2009 and complete the building by April / May 2010.