Estates Report
The Estates Department has had another busy year, with all elements of the Department – Buildings, Housekeeping, Gardens and Boathouse –pulling together to deliver some great outcomes.
Old Court
Phase 1b: Transformational Stage
All the transformational elements of the Old Court project have been completed including the new River Room. The facilities have proved extremely popular with students, staff and Fellows.
Due to its popularity, additional works were carried out during the long vacation to allow the River Room to be open for extended hours. Reinstatement works to the garden have been completed in the year with the Fellows’ Garden lawns restored. The Gardens team have been busy restoring the flower beds and have created a new dry bed, which will be more environmentally sustainable. The planting design was recognised with a special award at the University’s annual Green Impact awards.
Phase 2: Restoration Stage
The final stage of the Old Court project, known as the restoration phase, commenced in September 2023 and consists of the reroofing of the East, South and West Ranges and the internal refurbishment of D and E staircases.
During the opening up of the roof, especially below the lead gutters, significant amounts of rot and historic woodworm were found. This has necessitated a much greater number of intricate repairs than were required in earlier phases of roofing works.
Other Projects
Numerous other projects have been completed, including external decorations to Ethelreda, 14-16 Castle St, and Thirkill Court. Reroofing of the gatehouse at Memorial Court and the upgrading of the windows at Castle House with triple glazing continues.
Buildings and Housekeeping:
• The in-house maintenance team continues its hard work (mostly) behind the scenes to keep the College in good order. In the last 12 months 8,816 maintenance job tickets were opened and 8,998 were completed and closed.
• This year Housekeeping cleaned 436 student bedrooms every week plus staff and Fellows’ offices and all the public areas of the College.
• During the summer conference season in excess of 9,000 beds were changed and 30,000 guest stays serviced.
• There are 10 different nationalities represented amongst the Housekeeping staff. This year we have started providing English as a Foreign Language lessons for new arrivals.
Sustainability
The College continues its journey to make its built environment more sustainable. In the past year, some significant energy saving/decarbonisation projects have been completed and demand reduction exercises undertaken.
Memorial Court/Lerner Court Sustainable Heating Project
The boilers in Lerner Court are at the end of their working life, and the College commissioned a project to look at their replacement along with those serving Memorial Court. The urgency to replace the boilers in Lerner Court necessitated the acceleration of this part of the project, which will be delivered in two phases. Air source heat pumps were installed to deliver hot water to the building and central heating to the student bedrooms. The project was completed to a tight timescale over the Easter Vacation 2024, delivered on time and within budget, while working in a considerate way that allowed conferencing to operate as normal in the public rooms. Already nearly 11,000 kg CO2e has been saved, and £2,500 in energy costs. The second phase of this project will be to provide heating to the Gillespie centre via existing ground source heat pumps and additional air source heat pumps.
Meanwhile preparatory work continues for the replacement of the 25 year old Memorial Court boilers, with a view to installing air source heat pumps and thermally upgrading the existing sash windows.
In Other Projects
• Green licences have been introduced at Castle Court. Students with such licences are required to vacate their rooms at Christmas which allows the heating to be turned down considerably. Those who want to stay in Cambridge can move temporarily to Memorial Court. Full heating can then be concentrated on the occupied buildings only. In December and January 2023/24, the College saved 8,900 kg CO2e, and just under £3,500 in energy costs.
• The College was awarded a grant to buy a thermal imaging camera. This has been used to survey Castle Court to identify areas where draft stripping or additional insulation is required.
• A programme of replacing compact fluorescent light fittings with LED fittings is underway by the in-house buildings team. Work has been completed at Castle End and the site lighting throughout Castle Court. In the first six months since the lighting was upgraded, over 17367 kWh of electricity has been saved (saving £4,350), which will pay back in less than two years.
• The College achieved a Platinum Award at the University’s Green Impact awards. This is the 11th year in which Clare has achieved either gold or platinum.
Net Zero Implementation Plan
From 2035 replacement gas boilers will no longer be available. The College has therefore commissioned a team of consultants to work with the Estates team to create a practical implementation plan for the whole site. This shows how each building’s heating and hot water needs can be met using low carbon technologies.
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