Merrist Wood Animal Management Centre
Building a State-of-the-Art Animal Management Centre
Design and construction of a purpose-built, 1,600m² Animal Management Centre that combines highly serviced environments with teaching and support spaces.
Merrist Wood College’s new Animal Management Centre provides an advanced teaching and research facility designed for a wide range of species.
The building features desert, tropical and nocturnal habitats, each with unique temperature and humidity profiles, delivered within a single, precision-engineered structure.
Value
£2.4 million
Location
Guildford, Surrey
Project Manager
Fusion PM
Form of Contract
JCT Design & Build
Capabilities:
BREEAM
Design & Build
Stakeholder Management
Our Approach
The project demanded precision in achieving multiple controlled environments within a single building:
- Desert Habitat: High-temperature conditions with low humidity.
- Tropical Habitat: Elevated temperatures with strict high humidity control.
Key technical measures included:
- Specialist thermal and vapour control design, with detailed analysis to avoid cold bridging and condensation risks.
- Highly coordinated MEP systems to maintain precise environmental parameters.
- Rigorous interface management between insulation, structural elements and mechanical services.
Live campus delivery required robust phasing and control measures:
- Secure segregation with hoarding and access controls to separate works from students, staff and live animals
- Weekly alignment meetings with the Estates Team to schedule disruptive activity outside class times.
- Biosecurity and environmental controls, including dust suppression, noise monitoring and temperature management.
- Student engagement through supervised site visits to support vocational learning opportunities.
Outcome
The completed centre provides an exceptional learning resource and a safe, specialist environment for diverse species. Delivered on time, without interruption to teaching, the project demonstrates our ability to combine new build delivery with controlled environments and advanced systems integration.
John Nutt
Director of Faculty
"The new Animal Management Centre will enable us to deliver a broader, more exciting curriculum for our learners as we will be able to care for a much wider variety of species and allow our students to interact with them more. The new building will enable us as a College to provide modern accommodation, which not only meets the needs of the current curriculum, but is also adaptable to respond as the industry changes in the future."
