A state-of-the-art building that inspires learning and collaboration

Back in 2013, Stride Treglown was one of the six architectural firms invited by the University of the West of England to bid on their Bristol Business School project. The firm landed the job. Senior Associate Architects Andrew Kingdon and Nicholas Morris designed an inspiring, professional, community-building structure.

The challenge? Finding suitable building materials

Andrew Kingdon specialises in higher education architecture and always keeps an eye out for innovations in building materials that best meet the needs of educational institutes. Equitone has been on his radar for years.

The many advantages of Equitone

Equitone is a versatile product with a competitive cost per square metre. This panel measures three by two metres and is surprisingly lightweight. Equitone does not only come in a range of colours and textures, it can also be cut into any shape and installed in a variety of patterns.

Attention on sustainability

The 17,000 m² school is the first building in the UK to incorporate new ultra-thin Equitone panels with hidden mechanical fixings. This means no more panel overlap, and less material used. Three years on, the panels still look slick and they continue to weather perfectly.

It is safe to say that Equitone is the perfect material for universities who want to be innovative and more sustainable with their new buildings.

Want to know more about this project? Watch the video here.

Architects: Andrew Kingdon and Nicholas Morris (UK)