G A B R I E L H O U S E
Gabriel House - Exeter
Original building was only eight years old but the design no longer met the
function requirements
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Air forced into clusters and extracted from kitchen and ensuites
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Heat exchanger in air to corridors
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All light fittings take low energy bulbs
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Every cluster has 3 or 4 bedrooms and a community kitchen/living/dinning
space
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Each bedroom has an ensuite, they will also have a fridge
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There are 2-3 clusters on every floor apart from the basement
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Total of 47 bed spaces provided
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Entry to each cluster is with a swipe card – this card will give access to
the relevant cluster only and will not give access to other cluster areas
within the building
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Entry to individual bedrooms is with a swipe card – which is bedroom
sensitive and will not open any other bedrooms
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Roof lights are connected to the ventilation system –
as and when the building requires more ventilation, these will open and
close appropriately.
The roof lights are also connected to the fire
alarm and will only exhaust smoke
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The building has been design in consultation with fire engineers and there
are smoke curtains in the basement, to stop smoke entering the atrium and
travelling up to other floors.
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Hard floor surfaces to all areas.
These are easily cleanable, also light colours
to reflect light into rooms
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New roof light has been provided in stairwell to provide light to the stairs
and also to act as a smoke vent in the event of a fire in the building.
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Organic paints have been used throughout the building
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All external walls have had 65mm of high efficiency insulated plasterboard
applied
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300mm loft insulation
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Items kept from original building – staircase and banister, lift, windows
and some internal walls, external doors,
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Building has been completely replumbed and rewired
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Heating system has been down sized due to higher insulation levels and the
decrease in heating requirements
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Uvalue of walls when built approximately 0.35, uvalue now is approximately
0.19, which surpasses current building regulation requirements
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The building will be pressure tested
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End user has always been Shilhay
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Homeless mens hostel
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Harm reduction unit for men who want to get themselves off drugs and alcohol
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Basement contains community rooms – training kitchen, computer room, laundry
room, general use area
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Acoustic plasterboard has been incorporated into the walls between computer
room and community general use area in the basement
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Sound block has been incorporated in the walls between bedrooms and the
kitchen/living/dinning of each cluster
