SCALA Civic Building of the Year Competition, 2004

Commended

Kirklees Metropolitan Council: Huddersfield
Materials Recycling Facility and Waste to Energy Plant - SITA Kirklees

The materials recycling and waste-to-energy plant in Huddersfield has helped Kirklees Metropolitan Council become the first local authority to achieve a three star award in the government’s review of excellence in waste management.

It has two main functions - recovering and recycling 25,000 tonnes per year of paper, plastics and metals - and incinerating 130,000 tonnes per year of household and trade waste that would otherwise have gone to landfill, generating enough electricity to power 10,000 homes.

It occupies a tight site between the railway and the canal in a sensitive location close to the city centre. The plan is generated by the reconciliation of the waste traffic vehicle flow around the site and the necessary sequences of the incineration, generation and fluegas treatment process. Rising above a base clad in silver metallic sheeting, the four main elements of the waste-to-energy process are clearly articulated as three-dimensional forms, celebrating the process and contributing to the townscape context.

The bunker hall is clad in Eternit’s 7.5mm Glasal fibre cement cladding, with a strongly coloured blue grid on a limestone background that is legible at a medium distance. The 40m high boiler hall, clad in sliver metallic Planja sheeting, incorporates a ‘torch’ made of Kalwall sheeting which brings daylight into the interior and at night provides a marker that can be seen across the town.

A new walkway by the adjacent canal to allows visitors to view the facility in safety and comfort. All rainwater is collected and re-used for the processes taking place within. The plant complies with the latest European Waste Incineration Directive standards for emissions.

Thanks to the project the proportion of rubbish recycled by the council has increased to 30 per cent, compared to the 8 per cent or less of most UK authorities, and more than 60 per cent locally produced waste is now diverted away from landfill.

Design Architect: David Butterworth, Butterworth Architecture
Landscape Architect: Rachel Butterworth, Butterworth Architecture
Project Managers & Cost Control:Suez Environment
Structural, Mechanical & Electrical Engineers: CJP
Procurement Contractor: Lurgi (UK) Ltd
Contractors Co-ordinating Architects & Structural Engineers: Ferguson Mcilveen
Cladding Subcontractor: Stoakes Systems