The Robert Gordon University (RGU) is the first organisation in Scotland to adopt an innovative, eco-friendly construction technique in one of its new builds at its Garthdee campus in Aberdeen.

The building, which is the first phase of the University's £140 million estates masterplan, uses a system called Cobiax which employs recycled material in prefabricated concrete slabs.

This has a number of benefits including making the construction technique far more

environmentally friendly than traditional systems.

The Cobiax system in RGU's new Corporate Services Building incorporates 30,000 air-filled plastic balls, almost half of which are produced from recycled plastic. This forms the structural heart of the 2000m2 three-storey building.

Set into prefabricated concrete slabs and covered in situ with a concrete topping, the balls form the hollow centre of a revolutionary floor system reducing the amount of concrete used by 35% and the foundation load by 20%.


The production of one tonne of cement results in the emission of approximately 700 kg of carbon dioxide (this figure does not include additional emissions due to quarrying and transport). As a result the use of Cobiax can significantly reduce the carbon footprint of a new build.

In addition, an exposed concrete structure reduces the heating and cooling loads, as well as eliminating the long-term maintenance costs of the suspended ceilings.

Create Engineering introduced the flat slab Cobiax system to provide the necessary high quality concrete finish whilst maximising the floor to ceiling heights in open plan buildings.

They were one of the first consultants to work with Cobiax within the UK, working closely with suppliers and contractors to customise this innovative method which has already been used in Germany, Holland and Belgium.

Mike Berry, Director of Estates and Property Services at RGU said: "Environmental sustainability is one of the University's key strategic aims. Our estates masterplan provides an ideal opportunity for us to design and construct iconic buildings which incorporate eco-friendly best practice not only in the construction of the buildings but also in their day-to-day use. Our aim is to set the standard for sustainable buildings for others in the Higher Education sector to follow."

(GK/JM/KMcA)