Student Residences, Paisley

This development for the University of the West of Scotland (UWS), consists of a six-storey building with over 360 bedrooms and associated communal kitchen and living rooms. The student common room, laundrette, administration office, plant areas and retail space are provided at ground floor level. A two storey pend structure was formed over the vehicle access to the extensive ground level parking to the rear.

Various structural options were considered with the ultimate solution being the use of a light gauge metal ('Metsec') frame on a single storey steel frame podium structure. The podium structure was designed with a concrete slab to distribute the line loads from the superstructure to the columns. The lightweight metal frame utilised metal joints and timber flooring to minimise dead weight allow a rapid construction.

A piled foundation solution was required and, given the City Centre location, a bored pile design was developed with a view to minimising vibration experienced at the adjacent tenement building and minimising noise experienced within the live University campus environment.