Students in C-SCAIPE

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Discussion group in C-SCAIPE Students in C-SCAIPE Entrance to the C-SCAIPE commonroom Student in C-SCAIPE
Computer area in C-SCAIPE Students doing project work in C-SCAIPE Student in C-SCAIPE Student using computers in C-SCAIPE
Group discussion group in C-SCAIPE Students discussing work in C-SCAIPE Computer suite in C-SCAIPE area Students working in C-SCAIPE

Penrhyn Road

C-SCAIPE

Entrance to the C-SCAIPE commonroomC-SCAIPE works to embed sustainability principles into our courses and generate debate about sustainability. Its meeting and reading rooms are used by both Surveying students and others from across the University. They were specially designed to enable interactive teaching and provide a flexible learning space.

C-SCAIPE (or the Centre for Sustainable Communities Achieved through Integrated Professional Education) was set up in 2005 as one of 74 government-funded Centres for Excellence in Teaching and Learning. It is the only one that combines sustainability and the built environment.

Students using the social space within C-SCAIPEThe Centre was created by turning part of a 1930s block into a modern, accessible and quiet space in the heart of the Penrhyn Road campus. It incorporates sustainability into its architecture. Each material, from the cast-iron drainage system to the timber worktops and floor tiles, was chosen for its sustainable characteristics. For example:

  • the glass used for the reading room's roof and the debating chamber's roof lights reflects the sun to reduce heat gain and enable natural ventilation;  
  • all the spaces within the building are naturally ventilated as far as possible and are designed to promote natural cooling for most of the year; and
  • a split unit, heat pump system for heating in the colder months and cooling at the height of summer produces a lower carbon footprint than conventional systems.