Cloughmore Achieves Excellence
Apollo have completed their £3m Cloughmore Development in the Splott area of Cardiff. This 10,000 sq ft scheme was designed by Boyes Rees Architects, Shear Design and McCann & Partners and is located on the site of the former Splott Health Centre. The design captures the industrial heritage of the area with a combination of brickwork, natural local stone, zinc and Corten rain screen.
The building is provided with several energy efficient measures such as a 20KW photovoltaic range, auto dimming lighting on photocells, stack ventilation system, energy efficient taps and increased thermal and air leakage performance. This has resulted in the building achieving an Energy Performance of 18 which is the best performing health care building in Wales and in the top 10 in the UK. It will achieve BREEAM Excellent with a very high score of 79% which again is the highest in Wales.
The scheme was built by Dawnus Construction in 52 weeks which included the removal of asbestos and demolition of the old health centre on the site. The Dawnus team headed by Tom Rees delivered the scheme to a very high quality and on time.
Rob James, Apollo’s Operations Director and Project Lead said “this is a fantastic scheme and demonstrates Apollo’s commitment to providing the most energy efficient buildings in the sector. The quality of the architecture and construction shows our close management of the entire process from start to finish”.
Rob James enlisted the help of Emma Price from EMP Projects to introduce art into the project. This resulted in the commissioning of Ruth McLees a local Cardiff artist who provided hand painted water colours of different vista’s in the surrounding area both past and present. These were then photographed and placed onto vinyl and then placed in the feature hit and miss glass wall on both floors. This is complimented by the use of a 1879 map of Splott to give a sense of place for visitors and staff alike.
Rob James said “introducing art into our buildings is not a requirement of funding or planning, however, our aim is add interest into our schemes and create a healing environment through good use of art, light and colour. I think the combination of DGA’s interior design and Ruth McLees art provides a fantastic patient experience which is unique to this building”.
Apollo are due to complete the Rumney Primary Care Centre scheme in October 2013 and will then move forward with Mountain Ash and Whitland schemes in the near future.
