Sustainability and biodiversity have been two of the cornerstones kept in constant mind during the planning and development of our Univ North community.

The new buildings themselves will utilise Cross-laminated Timber (CLT) for construction, reducing the need for high-carbon concrete or steel, and have been designed to be as energy efficient as possible once completed, so reducing ongoing carbon emissions. High-quality windows and glazing with generous opening for good natural light and ventilation will be incorporated, as will air source heat pumps for hot water, and heat recovery ventilation systems, which are used to reduce heating and cooling demands (and thus energy costs and carbon emissions.) High levels of insulation, inherent sealing, and draught exclusion further improve the overall environmental impact.

Through a variety of architectural, technological, and design innovations, we have reduced the proposal’s carbon emissions by 40%.

The scheme has been designed from the ground up to preserve and enhance local wildlife and biodiversity. All significant and high-quality trees across the site will be maintained and the planting / replanting plans will ultimately improve the site’s canopy cover by up to 30%.

New garden spaces, wildflower meadow planting, the green roof on part of the nursery, and a new “traditional orchard”, beehives, bat bricks and tiles, and discreet hedgehog houses will deliver nearly 17% increased biodiversity.

Univ North’s Landscape Gardener, Kim Wilke, says: “It has been a real pleasure to work with the architect Níall McLaughlin and the Univ team to create a series of spaces that will enliven the development, encourage wildlife and fit with the existing gardens and villas. The new buildings have been designed around the spaces that they will create. 70 new trees and hundreds of metres of new native hedges will be planted to refresh the green structure of the place for the next hundred years.”

Read more from Kim Wilke in our Univ North’s landscape architect feature and hear from both Kim and Univ North’s architect, Níall McLaughlin, in a series of recordings from 2020 here.

Univ will continue reporting on sustainability initiatives from across College so please look out for these on our dedicated Sustainability at Univ page, our News Hub and social media channels – Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.

Published: 5 January 2022

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