New Library Building Opens!
Rt Hon Beverley Hughes MP has officially opened the new Library Building at Trafford College Altrincham (Friday 27 November).
The new state-of-the-art facility on Manchester Road is the first part of a £25 million scheme to provide excellent learning and teaching accommodation in Trafford, and has been built with many energy-saving features incorporated.
Beverley joined around sixty VIP guests for the ceremony which included a champagne reception on arrival and a welcome presentation by Principal, Sir Bill Moorcroft. Staff and students then celebrated the opening of the building with the unveiling of a commemorative plaque, followed by a tour of the new facilities including contemporary classrooms, extensive library and IT suites, and dedicated resource areas.
Funded by the LSC, environmental considerations were extremely important in the design of the new library building and the project has already achieved a BREEAM rating of ‘Very Good’.
Environmental features include classrooms on CO2 sensors that detect the number of occupants in the room and open the windows to provide fresh air naturally - only when required. Exposed concrete slabs absorb daytime heat gains to be purged at night by natural ventilation, and to assist, cooling solar energy is used to drive fans on the hottest days. All standard classrooms are naturally ventilated, hot water is solar heated and rainwater harvesting tanks provide water for toilet flushing.
Beverley Hughes MP said at the launch:
“It is so exciting to be involved in such an integral part of our students’ futures. For years Trafford College has provided a stepping-stone into employment for Trafford’s incredibly diverse population, providing local people with the skills they need to thrive in a global economy and this investment is just one of the many steps towards providing world class facilities for our future workforce.”
Sir Bill added: ”This is a great new facility for the people of Trafford and Greater Manchester, designed with the future in mind, and we are delighted to be officially opening the doors today. Not only is the building fantastic architecturally, but it meets many environmental targets and provides a superb learning environment - which is what our dedicated students deserve.
“The Library building will benefit all our learners and also support the College’s strategy of developing more independent learning for our younger level three learners. Our students will benefit from higher specification classrooms, greater IT provision and there will be enhanced additional learning support to help students with literacy and numeracy regardless of their ability. The new accommodation will enable the College to continue to be the largest single provider of undergraduates in Trafford.”
The final phase of the building is scheduled to be completed in August 2010. This will include enhanced library facilities including Additional Learning Support and more classroom and staff room accommodation.
