08/05/06

Top of the clean room class

Clean Room Construction is developing a growing reputation for successfully designing and building complex university projects after completing a second multimillion-pound facility at the University of Cambridge.

Representatives from Clean Room Construction (CRC) attended the official opening of the new world class electrical engineering research facility at the university on 25 April.

The purpose-built Cambridge Centre for Advanced Photonics and Electronics (CAPE) was opened on the university’s growing science and technology campus at West Cambridge, close to the already established Nanoscience, Whittle and Geotechnical centres.

The imposing building has been created in two sections, one with two floors and the other with three, which are linked by an atrium with a winter garden and a dramatic curved façade. The latter houses a state-of-the-art clean room measuring 760 sq. metres. CRC designed and installed the clean rooms and laboratories as well as the M&E services throughout the building.

The new centre unites these companies which are involved in the advanced photonics and electronics sector with leading researchers in a unique consortium. The consortium will address the supply chain in electronics and enable the effective transfer of cutting edge knowledge which is vertically integrated and commercially relevant.

Richard Rowe, CRC’s project manager, said: “CRC is delighted to have completed this prestigious project on budget and on time. Working closely with the university’s professional team from the initial first stages of design development right the way through to completion has resulted in a first class facility which befits the world’s leading centre for scientific teaching and research.”

The 3,850 sq. metre building, arranged with a north and south wing is linked by a series of footbridges passing through a central communal atrium.
The north wing consists of four levels with research and development laboratories on the ground and first floor levels, ISO 14644-1 Class 5, 6 and 7 clean rooms on the third level and internal and external plant areas on the fourth level.

The south wing consists of three levels with air conditioned offices for academic study at first and second levels and HVAC and specialist plant areas at level three.

The project began in France and included the decommissioning and removal of an existing clean room at a location in Fontainebleau, which had been purchased by the university.

CRC assessed which elements of the French clean room could be re-used on CAPE, including air handling units, fans, partitions, intelligent fan filter units, lights, raised flooring system, fan coil units, specialist process gas detection equipment and humidification plant. CRC was also free issued wet benches, fume cupboards, process exhaust scrubbers, vacuum plant and gas detection equipment from the engineering department.

The integration of gas detection systems from different manufacturers meant that a careful review and risk assessment of special gases to be handled, including silane, phosphine and hydrogen, had to be undertaken.

All of these elements were then integrated into the design process and later successfully commissioned on site.

A modular design approach was adopted to allow an ergonomic process flow arrangement. Service chases were also created to allow good maintenance access without the need to access clean room areas.

CRC was also able to offer a complete design and build turnkey package for all building services and not just for the clean room and laboratory areas. This meant that there was no split responsibility between, for example, M&E services and clean room contractors.

Top marks

Following a 14-month fast-track design and build process the new CAPE facility was successfully handed over to the university on 19 December 2005 and was afforded a ‘very good’ BREEAM rating. The exhaustive end user briefings have resulted in a smooth transfer to the university and operations are now up and running in the eye-catching building.

CRC’s Richard Rowe concludes: “A successful project is the result of a successful team and the CAPE building is one that all parties, including investors, designers and building contractors, can be extremely proud of.