Retrofitting the Castle Meadow campus, Nottingham

Author: Stuart McNash and Stephen Fernandez

Date published

4 March 2026

Price
Standard: £9.95 + VAT
Members/Subscribers: Free
The Institution of Structural Engineers The Institution of Structural Engineers
Back to Previous

Retrofitting the Castle Meadow campus, Nottingham

Tag
Author
Stuart McNash and Stephen Fernandez
Date published
4 March 2026
Price
Standard: £9.95 + VAT
Members/Subscribers: Free
The Structural Engineer
Author

Stuart McNash and Stephen Fernandez

Citation

The Structural Engineer, Volume 104, Issue 3, 2026, Page(s) 34-41

Date published

4 March 2026

Author

Stuart McNash and Stephen Fernandez

Citation

The Structural Engineer, Volume 104, Issue 3, 2026, Page(s) 34-41

Price

Standard: £9.95 + VAT
Members/Subscribers: Free

Stuart McNash and Stephen Fernandez describe the project to retrofit the Castle Meadow buildings in Nottingham, turning them into a new city-centre campus for the University of Nottingham.

Synopsis

The award-winning 1990s buildings at Castle Meadow, Nottingham, which previously served as offices for HM Revenue and Customs, have been repurposed and transformed for the future as a University of Nottingham campus.

The structural engineer had an influential role on the project to define the principles for retrofitting the existing buildings. The differing levels of retrofit, including a complex tensile-fabric roof replacement, have given the site a new lease of life, demonstrating that existing buildings and spaces can be innovatively transformed and reused using a variety of approaches.

These buildings set the benchmark for low-carbon developments in Nottingham, with an embodied carbon of 80kgCO2e/m2 for the central building works.

Additional information

Format:
PDF
Pages:
34-41
Publisher:
The Institution of Structural Engineers

Tags

Retrofit Roof Tension element Project Focus Carbon Issue 3

Related Resources & Events

The Structural Engineer
Image of project in Uganda using a timber roof truss for hipped end

Case study: Building less and building clever

This short case study by Wakalile Martin describes a small project in Mbale district, Uganda, that challenged the client's brief to build more efficiently.

Date – 1 February 2023
Author – Wakalile Martin
Price – £9.95
The Structural Engineer
The finished building for Mary Ward Adult Education Centre

Mary Ward Centre, London: Risk management of a heavy retrofit and vertical extension

Alison Wallis and Mike Davies outline how a derelict 1970s concrete-framed building was repurposed in Stratford, east London.

Date – 3 March 2025
Author – Alison Wallis and Mike Davies
Price – £9.95
Manuals
<h4>Manual for the design of bamboo structures to ISO 22156:2021</h4>

Manual for the design of bamboo structures to ISO 22156:2021

This Manual provides much needed design guidance for the structural use of bamboo, to help this sustainable material be used in accordance with ISO 22156.

Date – 28 November 2025
Author – D Trujillo et al
Price – £34.95