Building fabric general

General

The fabric of a building is the general term to describe the external facade, that provides protection from the environment, as well as the main internal dividing walls.

This section of the design guide provides information on the important criteria that should be considered in the design of the building fabric and the selection of appropriate materials

Design Principles General

A Whole of Life approach is to be used in the selection of the appropriate materials to the individual fabric elements, to ensure that the most appropriate Value for Money material is used. 

 Designers should consider the following in the selection of materials:

• Ecological sustainable solutions
• Life Cycle Costing
• Durability
• Robustness to resist Vandalism
• Maintainability
• Occupant, user and maintenance staff safety

Specification of Proprietary Items

To ensure the ongoing maintenance of services and equipment the University will require that particular items are used. There will also be particular items which will be preferred to other options; therefore the university will identify the following items:

• Required proprietary item, where the particular brand and model are required to be used to ensure that the new works will function properly, be able to be incorporated into existing university systems and be maintainable in line with the existing university operational procedures. In this case Alternatives are not acceptable.
• Preferred Proprietary Item, where the particular brand and model is known to the operations and maintenance staff and will assist in incorporation into existing university systems and be maintainable in line with existing university operational procedures. In this case alternative equal items may be included subject to approval by Property.