The new building for the University’s Faculty of ICT was recently inaugurated by Education Minister Evarist Bartolo in the presence of Stefan Buontempo, Parliamentary Secretary for Research, Innovation, Youth and Sport, Shadow Minister for Education Joe Cassar, University rector Juanito Camilleri and the faculty dean Ernest Cachia, as part of the events held during Discover University Open Week.
The project, which cost €17 million, was 85 per cent financed by the EU under the European Regional Development Fund013 and 15 per cent from national funds.
The building consists of a concrete substructure with a steel, framed, upper structure. The exterior envelope predominantly consists of a special engineered façade filled with an inert gas and treated to minimise solar heat gains while not compromising the light transmission into the rooms.
The building has no openable windows but is climate-controlled through an advanced Building Management System. The internal climatic conditions, such as temperature, introduction of fresh air and extraction are managed by an automated system.
Heat recovery units have also been installed in key areas so that the fresh air being introduced inside the building is pre-conditioned by the extracted air, resulting in increased overall efficiency.
The rooms are furnished with presence detectors to switch off lights and air-conditioning systems automatically after a predefined period of time, if these are left on when the room is vacated.
The underground parking is monitored and automatically ventilated.
The centralised climate control system, together with the use of the most advanced outer façade materials, will significantly reduce the energy demands of the building, thus helping to minimise the environmental impact that the addition of another building on campus will have.
In general, the air-conditioning units are of variable refrigerant flow type, using inverter-driven compressors to optimise running efficiency under partial load conditions.
Although the building houses its own dedicated electricity substation to ensure a stable supply of power, it is also equipped with a powerful uninterruptible power supply system with a standby generator for emergency power provision suitable to run all essential loads.
Another feature of the building is its own rainwater harvesting. Even in case of water supply interruption, the building can rely on its own voluminous subterranean water reservoir. This reservoir will be used to provide second-class water for toilet use, provide water for irrigation purposes, as well as for fire fighting systems.
The types of light fittings vary depending on the application and location, but generally provide a high lumen output per watt and are therefore energy-efficient.
The building is furnished with a photovoltaic array on the roof, which serves the dual purposes of providing shading, thereby decreasing the fabric heat gain, and also generating power for direct use by the building.
The building is also furnished with security and safety systems, including a fire detection system, fire-fighting system (with inert gas suppression in the server rooms), CCTV and access control.
The structure itself is a four-floor edifice, offering approximately 6,700 square metres of floor space, configured as two blocks connected via a central, multi-storey entrance, lobby, stairwell and lift area, with a ramp-accessed, underground-level car park for over 70 vehicles.
Attention was given to the overall skyline of the campus. The sloped landscape surrounding the building minimised the visual impact on the surrounding university buildings.
The various areas in the new building will include teaching labs, research rooms, tutorial rooms, undergraduate study areas, post-graduate rooms and research labs.