William Gates Building, Cambridge
| William Gates Building | |
|---|---|
 | |
| General information | |
| Status | Complete |
| Address | 15 JJ Thomson Avenue |
| Completed | 2001 |
| Cost | £20 million |
| Owner | University of Cambridge |
| Height | |
| Top floor | 2 |
| Awards and prizes | Bronze Green Impact Award |
The William Gates Building, or WGB for short, is a square building that houses the Computer Laboratory at the University of Cambridge, on the University's West Cambridge site in JJ Thomson Avenue south of the Madingley Road in Cambridge, England.[1][2][3] Construction on the building began in 1999 and was completed in 2001 at a cost of £20 million. It was named after the father of Microsoft founder Bill Gates. The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation provided 50% of the money for the building's construction.
The initial build made use of a colour-based type system. Stairwells were painted orange; the entrance to kitchens and bathrooms were painted blue; and wiring closets were painted red. In December 2013, the type system was largely replaced with white, energy-saving, paint.
In August 2014, the William Gates Building bike shed was enhanced with a security fence, which gained the bikeshed the nickname of The Alcatraz Bikeshed.
Energy efficiency
The William Gates Building claims to be the most energy-efficient building in the portfolio of the University of Cambridge.[4] In Switch Off Week 2014, the William Gates Building had a net increase in energy consumption of 0.25%.[5] It currently has an energy rating of D-, thanks, in-part to the following measures:
- Aggressive sleep scheduling of desktop computers.
- Use of a chilled-beam convection-based cooling system, with Oventrop valves, to cool rooms in the summer, and warm the floor above in the winter.
- Turning off lights in corridors, and The Street, in hours of darkness.
- Encouragement to use the stairs, not the lift, when not carrying items.
- Installation of energy-reporting power distribution units, and power-recording plugs.
- A policy of not buying microwaves with a clock, thereby reducing power use by almost one watt.
- Installing timers on coffee machines, so they turn off after 5 minutes of use.
- Switch me off stickers on light switches.
- Dimmed lights in the lifts
- Repainting the staircases with white, energy-saving, paint.
- Three photovoltaic solar panels on the roof produce enough energy, on a sunny day, to power the lights in the GN corridor.
Controversies
There has been a lack of hot water in the William Gates Building since 10th of June 2014 in both the wash basins and in the showers due to an illegal boiler flu. This was intended to be fixed by 30th of February 2015. It is unclear whether this has been an intentional step to further improve energy efficiency.
See also
References
- ↑ The William Gates Building, University of Cambridge, UK.
- ↑ William Gates Building, University of Cambridge , Commission for Architecture and the Built Environment (CABE), UK.
- ↑ William Gates Building, Architect, Photos, Address, Date, Architecture, Images, e-architect.
- ↑ Energy efficiency
- ↑ Switch off week 2014
Coordinates: 52°12′39″N 0°05′31″E / 52.210925°N 0.092022°E