London Architects, Canaway Fleming has designs housing for 1,510 workers building the Hinkley Point C nuclear power station in Somerset, reports Building Design.
The design forms parts of plans for Hinkley Point, the first nuclear power station to be built in the UK since the mid-1990s, submitted by French utility firm EDF Energy to the new Infrastructure Commission. The commission, whose planning powers bypass local authorities, will begin studying the 30,000-page submission next month ahead of making a recommendation to the government in December. Meanwhile, the only remaining consortium with no French partners bidding for the £2.5bn civils job to build a nuclear power station at Hinkley has been cut out of the race for the job, according to Building.
According to separate sources, the “ConstructEnergy” consortium of Costain, Sir Robert McAlpine and German firms Heitkamp and Hochtief has been told by French utility EDF, which is the ultimate client for the project, that it is no longer in with a chance of winning the key contract. The decision means the remaining consortiums in the running for the prime job on the new reactor are Balfour Beatty with Vinci, and Laing O’Rourke with Bouygues.
In a further development Hinkley Point’s overall design by YRM has been praised by the Design Council Cabe. However it said that EDF should think about painting the buildings in colours other than grey.
Canaway Fleming meanwhile, has designed space for 1,510 workers split across three campuses: two in Bridgwater and one on the site itself. A spokesman for EDF, which plans to spend £20 billion building four reactors — at Hinkley and Sizewell in Suffolk — said it was also looking at the village idea for Sizewell.
EDF is worried such a large number of people arriving at Hinkley — 5,600 workers at peak — will adversely affect local people. But it said the campuses would “ensure high standards of behaviour”.
Canaway Fleming partner Martin Canaway told Building Design that the accommodation would be the same standard as a two-star hotel. “People will feel they’re being looked after rather than being stuck in a mobile home,” he said.
Cabe also welcomed YRM’s designs for a visitor centre at Hinkley Point C according to Building Design. And it praised a sheltered outdoor retreat, offering views of the nearby Bristol Channel, “as a great asset for the staff, who will spend much of the rest of their working day within a sealed office environment”.
