Woodhead Construction has started work on a new £5.4 million energy research centre at the University of Nottingham.

The 2,500m2 Research Acceleration and Demonstration (RAD) facility will provide modern facilities for research and testing on the Jubilee Campus as part of the Energy Research Accelerator initiative.

Designed by Lewis & Hickey Architects, the building will be one of the first research centres to achieve the sustainability standards of BREEAM, along with the principles of the German Passivhaus system.

Features will include laboratory space for research ranging from harvesting and storing wind energy, to the development of new materials for hydrogen storage. In addition, there will be office space for researchers, and a central atrium with breakout spaces where ideas can be discussed and explored.

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The equipment installed in the building's research labs is designed to take novel energy materials and technologies from the test bench into working devices, ranging from gas storage materials and batteries to water-splitting surface and fuel cells. In addition, an x-ray photoelectron spectroscopy facility will enable researchers to replicate how atoms and molecules interact at pressures close to their normal operating environment.

Gordon Waddington, Chief Executive of ERA, said: “The new RAD building will act as a focal point for much of the cutting edge research that will be taking place at the University of Nottingham in the Energy Research Accelerator.

"It will house advanced test equipment, and will also be home to many of the UK's leading academics, who will work together with business to accelerate the introduction of new technologies in the energy sector."

David Woodhead, Managing Director of Woodhead Construction, said: "We're delighted to be working with the University of Nottingham once again. This campus represents the future, with amazing structures greeting you at every turn. The design of the RAD is striking, but arguably its most innovative features, the Passivhaus and BREEAM standards, won't actually be seen, as they will be built into the very fabric of the building."

BWB will act as structural & civil engineers on the scheme, with CPW as services engineer. AECOM are project managers and Turner & Townsend are the cost managers.

(LM/MH)