Victorian Boiler House brought back to life

The Old Mortuary building has been transformed while staying true to its original specifications

The old mortuary building and chapel for Liverpool Royal Infirmary, which sits off Ashton Street next to Cedar House, has become home to two state-of-the-art engines, providing campus heating and an additional 4MWe of electricity for the University’s network.

Sympathetically installed within the Grade II listed building, the project has involved the alteration and refurbishment of the existing building.

The rooftop ventilation housing is installed as a single unit, after being manufactured off site

This was a complex task that included re-roofing the building’s slate roof and installing new roof top ventilation housing, which was manufactured off site and installed as a single complete unit. The re-roofing work entailed removing and numbering every individual slate to record their position to ensure they were re-fixed in the same exact position on the roof.

University architects and civil and structural engineers have worked closely together to create an impressive internal steel structure to house a modern, functional energy centre, capable of supporting the combined weight of the engines, which total 46 tonnes.

Engine radiation fans find a new home in the sensitively re-purposed building

The installation of the roof ventilation housing was marked by an official topping out of the building.

Ian Murray, Consultant Project Manager for the University, commented

“The University design team, Vital Energi and subcontracts have worked well to make the project a success.  Not only will this project secure the future of this important listed building but, when finished, will help reduce CO₂ emissions and provide a financial return on capital invested from the energy cost savings.”

Alterations to the building were made to allow the large new engines to be eased in

Ian Whitelock, Joint Managing Director of Vital Energi explained, “When designing and installing a project like this it is important to be sensitive to the original building and to respect the local residents, for whom it is part of the fabric of their community.   This project is the result of 30,000 hours of work and those efforts have achieved something truly special.

“What we have done at the University of Liverpool, through close collaboration, is show that it is possible to retrofit a state-of-the-art, 21^st century technology into a heritage building without damaging its character or reducing the performance of the energy centre.”