Completion Date: 2012
Size: 586,000 square feet, with an additional 1.2 million square feet of training villages

Desertcreat College is a new integrated academic and practical training campus for the Police, Prison, and Fire and Rescue services of Northern Ireland. The project site is a gently rolling 278 acre zone of agricultural fields and woodland in the geographic center of the province of Ulster. The Killymoon, an ecologically significant river, runs through the site from west to east.

The site development strategy proposes a constructed campus ecosystem oriented west to east that parallels the natural corridor of the Killymoon River. Ecologically sensitive areas to the north of the river are set aside for lighter impact practical training uses. The academic campus and the principal shared and public functions of the campus are at the center of the site. To the south are the practical training areas for the three uniformed services.

The "sheltered campus" concept proposes a unifying roof structure in dialogue with the landscape, under which the academic campus buildings are assembled and protected. The concept integrates the built environment with the landscape, protects from threats, allows for natural ventilation, visually unifies the campus buildings, and creates a strong campus identity.

The project is on target to achieve carbon neutrality by reducing energy consumption through the use of passive ventilation in all classrooms and office spaces; on-site willow harvesting for heat generation with a bio-mass boiler, and on-site electrical generation with a wind turbine. The landscape design proposes new stands of native woodland, new native grasslands, new native wetland to augment existing habitats, and willow coppicing to enhance biodiversity.