Case Studies
Student Accommodation, VINCI
Project: Frenchay Campus, Bristol
Sector: Student living
Client: University of the West of England
Main Contractor: VINCI Building
Architect: Stride Treglown
Pod Type: GRP shower pods
Number of pods: 757
The Project
This project is our second student living contract at the University of the West of England’s Frenchay Campus in Bristol – a £1.7m project to manufacture 757 bathroom pods for VINCI Building. It is also our 17th project for VINCI.
Due for completion for the 2023/24 student intake, this phase of the Frenchay Campus development will provide 900 bedspaces in three buildings spanning over 26,000sqm and in clusters of four, six and eight bedrooms and with ensuite or shared bathrooms.
The architects are Stride Treglown with Amber as MEP designers.
A Long-standing Supply Chain Partner to VINCI
Offsite Solutions has delivered 16 pod projects for VINCI Building to date which includes major student accommodation schemes for universities in Swansea, Cardiff, Coventry, and Liverpool.
The Bathroom Pod Solution
The shower pods have a robust, long-lasting and low maintenance GRP construction. Each will be fully finished in our Somerset factory and will be fitted with:
- A D-shaped wall-mounted hand basin
- Wall-hung toilet with dual flush
- Thermostatic shower
- Sliding shower door.
Meeting Passivhaus Standards for Less Environmental Impact
This highly sustainable development is one of the largest Passivhaus projects in the UK.
It is designed to provide a high level of comfort for students whilst using very little energy for heating and cooling, helping UWE Bristol and VINCI Building to meet their environmental aspirations.
As part of the certified low carbon strategy, the buildings aim to yield a reduction of around 50 per cent in running costs and carbon emissions.
To help achieve this, the cold water pipework in the bathroom pods will be insulated and the thermostatic shower and mixer taps for the hand basins are designed to run at lower temperatures. Both of these measures will reduce energy consumption for heating hot water.
Hot water distribution losses can be a major source of energy consumption and can lead to overheating risk. With a Passivhaus specification, the hot and cold water pipework, brackets and fittings are all insulated.
The Customer Perspective
Steve O’Leary, Regional Business Services Manager, VINCI Building:
“I have managed the procurement and delivery of around 3,500 pods manufactured by Offsite Solutions in the past nine years. Their approach suits VINCI Building’s model of student accommodation very well. They have robust factory testing processes in place which mean the quality is better and more consistent.”
“In my view, Offsite Solutions’ pods are the best in their sector and I would not hesitate to recommend.”
“This solution reduces the numerous trades for bathroom construction to a single supplier, which results in a considerable time saving."
"Each bathroom typically takes around three weeks to construct traditionally, whereas with offsite manufacturing, we just have to position the pods, make connections, and hang the doors. This is incredibly fast.”