Kellogg College visit by the AECB Oxford group

Members enjoy a follow up visit to this nearly completed Passivhaus project.

The Oxford group recently revisited the Kellogg College Passivhaus project, which is now nearing completion and is on schedule for client handover. This is a live site and Chris Swinburn was able to explain successes and a few challenges of the project to members.

When the larger group visited in November, one of Chris’ chief concerns was how well the labour force would install the exterior insulation, with regard to cold bridges. This question was discussed for quite a while between members and on return it seemed that the install went “as planned” and there were no obvious gaps visible!

Since the original November visit all the services are now in place, with final fixing and adjustment to the MHVR taking place during the visit.

The air handling system initially gave Chris a few headaches, with a first air test giving a scary air tightness of around 1.8! However, it was soon established that the MHVR dampers were not working as efficiently as designed. So, once rectified, they now have an airtightness below 0.6 – Fantastic!

As a college building, the Kellogg is a lovely addition to Oxford’s ever evolving educational space. The building makes good use of a south facing orientation, with large windows and doors opening on to a sheltered outside space.

Paul Williamson asked if the group could re-visit, once the building is occupied, as it would be interesting to see how students interact with it, and if it works! As Chris will admit, the kitchen area is quite large for the total footprint so it would be interesting to see just how well the MVHR copes with its environment – and being single storey building doesn’t help!

It was nice to see that the finishes are very high quality with good workmanship.  Especially the timber finish to the internal walls.

Paul will discuss a follow-up visit date with Chris and get back to members.