The University of Salford’s new three-storey, 5,500m² Clinical Health Centre.

The Centre will be a world-class teaching and research facility for education and healthcare, targeting high sustainability and community engagement standards. It will become a key development within Salford Crescent’s £2.5bn Masterplan, providing essential training facilities for healthcare professionals in podiatry, prosthetics and orthotics, sports rehabilitation and gait lab analysis. The Centre aims to enhance campus connectivity and engage local community groups with modern facilities and outdoor spaces, serving as a central hub for the University.

The building features a steel frame structure with a central atrium made from engineered timber, supporting internal planters that enhance well-being through aesthetic and psychological benefits, promoting a connection with nature. The structural floors and reinforced concrete (RC) core walls will utilise precast elements, enabling faster assembly, cost savings, and enhanced construction quality due to precise factory manufacturing.

Modern construction methods will minimise the use of wet concrete, eliminating the need for structural toppings on precast planks, thereby reducing carbon emissions. The building targets low embodied carbon, taking into consideration emissions from production transportation, and construction of materials to reduce its environmental impact.

Our team also provides civil engineering expertise. Piled foundations were initially considered to support the ground floor slab due to ground obstructions and partially contaminated soil unsuitable for bearing. By working closely with the geotechnical specialist and contractor operations team, we proposed a ground improvement solution, re-engineering the made ground on site to facilitate a ground-bearing slab and minimise off-site spoil. Utilising ‘cut and fill’ software, our civils team accurately quantified cut and fill estimates, providing greater cost certainty and streamlining the re-engineering sequence on site.

Location
Salford, UK

Client
University of Salford

Architect
AHR