University of Reading

Project Brief

The University of Reading introduces two new, state-of-the-art, halls of residence; the new Mackinder Hall will replace the old Whiteknights Hall, demolished last autumn. Stenton Hall will be located to the south of Childs Hall, which will also be demolished in a subsequent phase of the project. The halls are named after Halford John Mackinder, the first Principal of The College at Reading from 1892-1903 and Sir Frank Stenton, the University's third Vice Chancellor (1946-50).  The two halls will create a total of 965 student bedrooms arranged around leafy courtyards.

Bell and Webster’s Solution

This project was split over two sites; McKinder and Stenton located on Campus at Reading University separated by 500 meters and at its peak had 4 crawler cranes operating with 4 of Bell & Webster’s erection teams. One of the main issues on site was with regards to established trees on site which had to be reserved.  Bell & Webster carried out the erection using decking and the plus 8 scaffold system, which meant that there was no conventional external scaffold until it was required by the window fitters and external cladding was fitted which, was a brick slip system. The construction of this project was restricted to week days due to the close proximity of existing occupied student accommodation. The University has appointed Reading-based Morgan Sindall as the contractor for Phase 1 of the project. Almost 100 construction workers are employed on the first stage of the build this summer, rising to 260 at the peak of the construction towards the end of 2009. Morgan Sindall Project director, Peter Baggott, said: "We're thrilled so many people are taking an active interest in the project. The concrete frame and bathroom pods are being prefabricated off site and this is saving us a considerable amount of time. It also means that we have been able to reduce the number of deliveries to the site which in turn reduces the amount of traffic in the local area around the university."

Key Issues

• Close proximity of existing occupied student accommodation
• Establish trees on site to be avoided during erection

University of Reading (Phase 1) / Reference: G7372
Berkshire, RG6 6AH