Is the building still better for the environment including all the burnt wood? In all seriousness I love the visual design and ideology behind the building
funny thing about wood, it can sometimes support a structure longer than steel could in a fire. What often happens is that the outside of the pillar is charred, but it provides an insulating layer from the fire. Of course it doesnt mean you dont have to replace it, but it could give you more time to get out of a burning building than steel (which can bend from heat, plus the breaking of joints from expansion) and concrete (which, while better than steel, can crack under heat)
I was literally about to ask if this is the building involved in the fire, then the writing popped up on screen. I'm so happy to see this building almost complete. It looks absolutely stunning!
I somehow feel that the most important question has not been answered by Pete, and that's the one regarding the compatibility of wood and chemistry research in the practical sense. Most chemists will understand that after a brief look on the lab.
I thought it was redeemable until the inside of the teaching lab, large wooden support posts right beside the lab benches giving a vertical burning surface a straight run to above the sprinklers. They are definitely treated with flame retardants but still. Also solar panels in Nottingham, that's forever and a day to equal it's production footprint.
You would have to be trying pretty hard to ignite those posts, and I'm assuming they know what they're doing with the fire suppression systems to avoid any obvious problems. And it really isn't that hard to meet the production cost of solar panels. It's the economic costs when compared to other sources of energy that's the issue.
But that is what I am talking about - we should have heard at least one sentence about that issue. It is definitely an issue, and you should understand it if you do chemical research.
It's good to see you again, Dr. Pete, and it's good to see that you bounced back as well as you have. Best of luck in the new digs, and hopefully we can see some new PToV vids out of the new location...
Sometimes I wonder if chemistry, of all sciences, should be in a wooden building, we have had one nasty warning, I am keen to see philosphy and mathematics move in :)
MHTriBernard, while large timbers are fairly resistant to fire induced structural failure due to the reasons you mentioned, they are not more fire resistant than structural steel. Luckily they don't need to be. The temperatures required to cause steel to soften to the point of failure are far higher than anything constructed of wood could handle for any significant amount of time.
I've been watching this building go up over the last few years on my train ride into work. Its been wonderful to watch and it's nice to see it finally coming together.
The best part of this video is seeing Pete again! A passionate chemist and a wonderful teacher, periodic videos really lacks something without him! Not sure how I feel about the building... I don't think I'd be overly excited about doing restrictive chemistry in a building that could really turn out to be a massive hazard should an unforeseen accident occur... But if it does work out, it would be truly amazing! Good luck with it
It's mostly slightly fire-retardant glulam, and I would imagine the building is well insulated. There is active and passive fireproofing. Active fireproofing is alarms, sprinklers, water hoses etc. Passive fireproofing is through the architecture, material and insulation. When it's just a freestanding wooden skeleton, there's plenty of oxygen to feed the fire. But when the building is air- and watertight, the fireproofing begin to kick in. I don't know what this building has, but on similar constructions the smoke alarms would close open doors and electric windows (not lock them, obviously). When the building has been evacuated some cool systems can suffocate the fire in seconds by removing oxygen-rich air. Thus avoiding water damage. Things like rockwool in walls, floors and ceilings is also a fire and air-barrier, requiring temperatures in the thousands of centigrades to melt. Unlike foam and glasswool that's combustible at quite low temperatures.
+Nikolai Tsakov yet so do a lot of buildings, it is as easy to set fire to your house as it is to set fire to this building, people just see wood building and shout fire, it is bizarre
I wish a musical building looked like this. All that wood would create a beautiful sound and practice rooms could be along the little balcony Pete was standing on. A lab would be my second best pick
My first thought, "Wow a lab made out of what looks like extremely flammable wood, hopefully there are no accidental fires" and then a few short moments later, "The unfinished building was hit by a devastating fire in September of 2014." I guess anything that can go wrong really will go wrong.
Very happy to see that everything is back on track after that fire. Wood is so much nicer than concrete and steel, even if it is flammable. Looks like it will be a wonderful place to work. Congratulations!!
I seem to remember Professor Poliakoff in the video Brady made about the initial construction of the new lab burning down. Now we know why: Pete was too far away. Very good too see Pete again, and glad for him going to this new position.
Really awesome to see the new lab. Especially considering it was almost destroyed before it began. Good luck in all your future endeavors Pete. Hope to see tons of new and exciting green videos from your new lab.
Having worked in a Chemistry department(RSC at the ANU) which did catch fire several times I would be hesitant about a whole chemistry building made of wood! Looks amazing though!
Great video and bravo for the people who desired to go Carbon Neutral! This is my favourite channel. If I was a but younger (and be UK resident) I would most certainly go to Nottingham University! Very entertaining scientific videos, Mission accomplished!
CONGRATS!!! I can't wait to see all of the amazing chemistry videos being made in a 100% Green Lab in a few months!!!! That building looks amazing and the leaning balcony effect reminds me of "The Crooked Shack" at Knotts Berry Farm in California!!!!
What a beautiful lab. I would love to do work here. On an unrelated note, I would love to see some videos on spectroscopy. That stuff fascinates me, and studying it is such a treat.
Very interesting. I Wuerzburg, here in Germany they are going to build a new department for Boron Chemistry that also focuses on working with minimal energy and maximum enviromental friendliness.
Tbh I have been watching periodic videos for a while too!!! And when I grow up, I want to be a chemist, but my dad disapproves of me being one, and this channel is very awesome!!!
You have to be careful what you assume people will find boring. I, for one, would love to hear an hour worth of technical details about this fantastic building.
I recently discovered your channels and I've been enjoying your videos very much. You've been at all the cool places and meet very interesting people. Congrats!
To let you know, the visual effect of the building falling over comes across the camera; VERY much so!! Thats AWESOME!!! It makes you kind of "lean" then your brain recovers and then it happens again lol As well, CONGRATULATIONS PETE on your new(ish?) role!!!!
That building reminds me a lot of the log cabin style of architecture/house design that's popular where I live in Minnesota. Much warmer and more homelike than a traditional lab. Side note: was it difficult to make a building structurally sound while avoiding use of concrete and other engergy-intensive building materials?
No, the optical effect is still there on camera. Maybe its even more exaggerated with binocular vision and your inner ear and whatnot but still noticeable.
Fun fact: I saw the old building burning from a distance from the 7th floor of my hotel in Nottingham city centre. I didn't know it was at Jubilee until I heard the news the next morning. The vid of the fire shown here seems about right. Also it was Open Day during the fire, and parents stayed near Jubilee Campus. Whoops!
My second thought, after being struck by what a beautiful building it would be to work in, was "is it safe to be doing science in a wooden building?" I assume they considered the same issue, but especially after a cantos topic fire, it would have been good to have addressed this a bit in the video, beyond saying the fire suppressor equipment was functional.
I would certainly consider doing my phd at nottingham (in pure maths though not chemistry) but it's dependent on whether there's funded phds available at the time
Wait... where is your green blouse? You seem so much changed! I'm really glad about seeing this building. It was like viewing a real-life modern Simcity building.
Pete always seemed like a really nice guy. So I'm happy they made him king of the wooden science castle.
"A boring lecture that will last an hour." And I was really looking forward to hearing about the technical side of things. :(
I'm so happy to see Pete again!
And the design of the building is just beautiful, lucky people to work there!
wow Pete has changed quite a lot!
Maybe it's just because he isn't wearing a green lab coat
he has been collecting carbon for the planets benefit !!
+Stephen Mortimer aaaah... Baddum Tss.
Jack Hudler
Well I posit that the BBC interview him .. as to "lack of willpower" being the answer to excess carbon.. rather than their present path !!
I hardly recognized him!
3:49 i want to hear that hour lecture, this place looks amazing!
A lab in a wooden building? What about fire? "The unfinished building was hit by a devastating fire" Noooooooo!
What I always appreciated about concrete compared to wood, is its fire resilience.
Is the building still better for the environment including all the burnt wood? In all seriousness I love the visual design and ideology behind the building
But when a concrete building has had fire it has to be broken down since the water has evaporated and weakened the construction.
Wood only releases that amount of co2 that the tree its made of has ever converted in his life time.
funny thing about wood, it can sometimes support a structure longer than steel could in a fire. What often happens is that the outside of the pillar is charred, but it provides an insulating layer from the fire.
Of course it doesnt mean you dont have to replace it, but it could give you more time to get out of a burning building than steel (which can bend from heat, plus the breaking of joints from expansion) and concrete (which, while better than steel, can crack under heat)
+Azivegu maybe that's what they should have made the twin towers out of then... lol
I was literally about to ask if this is the building involved in the fire, then the writing popped up on screen. I'm so happy to see this building almost complete. It looks absolutely stunning!
I somehow feel that the most important question has not been answered by Pete, and that's the one regarding the compatibility of wood and chemistry research in the practical sense. Most chemists will understand that after a brief look on the lab.
I thought it was redeemable until the inside of the teaching lab, large wooden support posts right beside the lab benches giving a vertical burning surface a straight run to above the sprinklers. They are definitely treated with flame retardants but still. Also solar panels in Nottingham, that's forever and a day to equal it's production footprint.
The place already burned down once.
You would have to be trying pretty hard to ignite those posts, and I'm assuming they know what they're doing with the fire suppression systems to avoid any obvious problems.
And it really isn't that hard to meet the production cost of solar panels. It's the economic costs when compared to other sources of energy that's the issue.
But that is what I am talking about - we should have heard at least one sentence about that issue. It is definitely an issue, and you should understand it if you do chemical research.
National Channel We did hear about it.
It's good to see you again, Dr. Pete, and it's good to see that you bounced back as well as you have. Best of luck in the new digs, and hopefully we can see some new PToV vids out of the new location...
Sometimes I wonder if chemistry, of all sciences, should be in a wooden building, we have had one nasty warning, I am keen to see philosphy and mathematics move in :)
.... Congrats, there was a warning that unprotected piles of wood are flammable.
Meanwhile in having a clue...
Thank you I suppose! I actually didn't need a warning, I already knew :)
+seigeengine Actually, it quite depends upon the wood. Some woods have about the same flammability as concrete.
MHTriBernard, while large timbers are fairly resistant to fire induced structural failure due to the reasons you mentioned, they are not more fire resistant than structural steel. Luckily they don't need to be. The temperatures required to cause steel to soften to the point of failure are far higher than anything constructed of wood could handle for any significant amount of time.
Given Dr. Licence's well known love for "energetic reactions", I would imagine he's thought of how to alleviate those sorts of risks.
I've been watching this building go up over the last few years on my train ride into work. Its been wonderful to watch and it's nice to see it finally coming together.
The best part of this video is seeing Pete again! A passionate chemist and a wonderful teacher, periodic videos really lacks something without him!
Not sure how I feel about the building... I don't think I'd be overly excited about doing restrictive chemistry in a building that could really turn out to be a massive hazard should an unforeseen accident occur... But if it does work out, it would be truly amazing! Good luck with it
Honest question, and I'm sorry this references the tragedy that happened a while ago: But why isn't this building a giant fire hazard?
It's mostly slightly fire-retardant glulam, and I would imagine the building is well insulated. There is active and passive fireproofing. Active fireproofing is alarms, sprinklers, water hoses etc. Passive fireproofing is through the architecture, material and insulation. When it's just a freestanding wooden skeleton, there's plenty of oxygen to feed the fire.
But when the building is air- and watertight, the fireproofing begin to kick in. I don't know what this building has, but on similar constructions the smoke alarms would close open doors and electric windows (not lock them, obviously). When the building has been evacuated some cool systems can suffocate the fire in seconds by removing oxygen-rich air. Thus avoiding water damage.
Things like rockwool in walls, floors and ceilings is also a fire and air-barrier, requiring temperatures in the thousands of centigrades to melt. Unlike foam and glasswool that's combustible at quite low temperatures.
I agree with Marcos - that wooden lab so far has the safety record of hydrogen filled Hindenburg Zeppelin !
+Nikolai Tsakov yet so do a lot of buildings, it is as easy to set fire to your house as it is to set fire to this building, people just see wood building and shout fire, it is bizarre
I wish a musical building looked like this. All that wood would create a beautiful sound and practice rooms could be along the little balcony Pete was standing on. A lab would be my second best pick
Wouldn't that be a "twice in a life time opportunity"? Considering it's the second iteration.
Thanks guys! I have been waiting ages for this tour.
I can only imagine the excitement of moving into such a beautiful facility with all of its special characteristics.
What an absolutely beautiful beautiful thing! I really hope the inside is kept how it is, showing off that natural wood beauty.
this is a beautiful building, props to the architect and the engineers who designed it!
Even though it's nice, I don't like the poor ratio of hipsterism to science for that building.
hood to see you on video again Pete, and quite a beautiful facility you have there.
good*
That building is beautiful and it's nice to see and hear from Pete again!
Congratulations, Mr. Director. Well done & all the best in the future for the facility.
It's been amazing watching Pete's journey and contributions
My first thought, "Wow a lab made out of what looks like extremely flammable wood, hopefully there are no accidental fires" and then a few short moments later, "The unfinished building was hit by a devastating fire in September of 2014." I guess anything that can go wrong really will go wrong.
It looks really cool! You should be proud, Pete!
Congrats to all people who worked on it!
Beautiful building.
I hope to see more of it and the interesting science going on inside when it's completed.
It looks great. I have be enjoyed watching it be the progress for the last 3 years while walking to uni.
Very happy to see that everything is back on track after that fire. Wood is so much nicer than concrete and steel, even if it is flammable. Looks like it will be a wonderful place to work. Congratulations!!
I seem to remember Professor Poliakoff in the video Brady made about the initial construction of the new lab burning down. Now we know why: Pete was too far away.
Very good too see Pete again, and glad for him going to this new position.
Really awesome to see the new lab. Especially considering it was almost destroyed before it began. Good luck in all your future endeavors Pete. Hope to see tons of new and exciting green videos from your new lab.
It's good to see that everyone kept persevering despite the obstacles and has finally finished the building!
Fantastic! I'm looking forward to seeing lots of reports from the new lab. Thanks for taking this important step forward, and congratulations.
What a beautiful building and fantastic mission to undertake. Also great to see Pete again!
C'gratz Pete! And Nottingham U of course. May you do brilliant science there.
Congratulations guys with the new building, and congrads Pete with your new job!
It's such a joy to see Pete again. I miss him...
i love the new hush tone, very calming! looks amazing btw!
That is one beautiful building! To all those that get to work there, you are very lucky
Having worked in a Chemistry department(RSC at the ANU) which did catch fire several times I would be hesitant about a whole chemistry building made of wood! Looks amazing though!
Seems really flammable for a chemistry lab! What precautions will they take to keep it from burning down again?
Good to see you again!
Great video and bravo for the people who desired to go Carbon Neutral!
This is my favourite channel. If I was a but younger (and be UK resident) I would most certainly go to Nottingham University! Very entertaining scientific videos, Mission accomplished!
Great to see Pete again! Would love to check that building out first hand.
So happy to hear from Prof. Licence after so long- Hope he's happy in his new position!
Very cool-looking building. Good luck with everything, Pete!
The place just looks really nice. Glad to see everything's going well.
Literally everything about this is just fantastic and amazing! Awesome project.
CONGRATS!!! I can't wait to see all of the amazing chemistry videos being made in a 100% Green Lab in a few months!!!! That building looks amazing and the leaning balcony effect reminds me of "The Crooked Shack" at Knotts Berry Farm in California!!!!
What a beautiful lab. I would love to do work here.
On an unrelated note, I would love to see some videos on spectroscopy. That stuff fascinates me, and studying it is such a treat.
oops dropped a beaker of liquid oxygen
Impossible. That's banned in Britain. You'd get arrested on suspicion of terrorism just for being in the same room as that beaker.
+Sanjay Sanjayson
No, that's not true
Sanjay Sanjayson nope. Look up the charcoal vs liquid oxygen video
Is this the guy that would get excited over samples of obscure elements? I love this guy!
I love these videos and I love the efforts of Periodic Videos. Thank you for intruiging me and making life more interesting!
Very interesting. I Wuerzburg, here in Germany they are going to build a new department for Boron Chemistry that also focuses on working with minimal energy and maximum enviromental friendliness.
Tbh I have been watching periodic videos for a while too!!! And when I grow up, I want to be a chemist, but my dad disapproves of me being one, and this channel is very awesome!!!
Glad to see where Pete has been doing all these years, moving on up in the world.
I would like to hear that boring hour long lecture :´(
You have to be careful what you assume people will find boring. I, for one, would love to hear an hour worth of technical details about this fantastic building.
Things like this make me miss chem. It's good to see Pete again :)
Would love to see a full hour of technical details about this amazing building.
I'm glad for Pete, i've been missing him in this channel. : ) Also, awesome building.
Very excited to see the building coming to its end product 😊 i wish prof licence all the best there! 😄
I recently discovered your channels and I've been enjoying your videos very much. You've been at all the cool places and meet very interesting people. Congrats!
I can see the illusion on camera. Thats amazing! I am glad you guys covered this. I was wondering what happened after it burnt down.
Why do I get the feeling that that wasn't the last fire this place is going to see
They probably burned it down to make up for the additional construction costs and collected on the fire insurance.
That building just looks so amazing.
That building is just gorgeous!
I hope i can visit it one day.
PLEASE do a video on some of the technical aspects of the lab!!!
Yay! Pete Licence is back! Will he continue to appear on periodic videos?
Pete, your lab is absolutely huge! I work in a new state-of-the-art facility, even so, I am a bit jealous of your space.
This was absolutely phenomenal.
Really good to see Pete again!
I'm curious what precautions have been taken to prevent unwanted chemicals from being absorbed into the wood. All in all it's a beautiful building.
Its all fun and games until the termites come...
There are no building eating termites in the UK. Rot might be a concern but shouldn't be if they have detailed it correctly.
I be worried more about thermite eating the wood...
Termite paint! False flag operation!
waffleman383 i
We don't have those in the UK
Great tour I loved it! I hope you enjoy your time there!
Such a leisurely video.
To let you know, the visual effect of the building falling over comes across the camera; VERY much so!! Thats AWESOME!!! It makes you kind of "lean" then your brain recovers and then it happens again lol
As well, CONGRATULATIONS PETE on your new(ish?) role!!!!
This is fantastic, this is the ONLY way forward in my mind, taking care of our earth and being smart about it
This is amazing, I've been part of the people proposing a wood construction Renaissance for years.
This is utterly incredible, Wow, what an amazing feat.
Looks beautiful. And what a great concept!
The building is really amazing, so futuristic.
It has been ages since we've seen Prof Licence. Hopefully we'll see more of him now.
That building reminds me a lot of the log cabin style of architecture/house design that's popular where I live in Minnesota. Much warmer and more homelike than a traditional lab.
Side note: was it difficult to make a building structurally sound while avoiding use of concrete and other engergy-intensive building materials?
No, the optical effect is still there on camera. Maybe its even more exaggerated with binocular vision and your inner ear and whatnot but still noticeable.
Extraordinary building! I would love to visit it sometime.
Fun fact: I saw the old building burning from a distance from the 7th floor of my hotel in Nottingham city centre. I didn't know it was at Jubilee until I heard the news the next morning. The vid of the fire shown here seems about right.
Also it was Open Day during the fire, and parents stayed near Jubilee Campus. Whoops!
My second thought, after being struck by what a beautiful building it would be to work in, was "is it safe to be doing science in a wooden building?" I assume they considered the same issue, but especially after a cantos topic fire, it would have been good to have addressed this a bit in the video, beyond saying the fire suppressor equipment was functional.
What a lot of people are forgetting is that it also takes quite a bit of energy to make all of the planks of wood for that. "Carbon neutral"
awesome to see Pete again
I miss Pete's videos! Hopefully now that the building is completed he can come back for some new reaction videos on his new and shiny lab!!
Wow Pete has changed! He looks so different compared to the last time.
PETE! WE MISSED YOU!
I would certainly consider doing my phd at nottingham (in pure maths though not chemistry) but it's dependent on whether there's funded phds available at the time
You really ought to name an area pheonix lab, It was reborn from the ashes after all. And sounds cool as heck :)
Glad you got it finished :)
Fantastic, you guys. Keep up the amazing work.
Wait... where is your green blouse? You seem so much changed!
I'm really glad about seeing this building. It was like viewing a real-life modern Simcity building.
So cool building, but what are the four giant horns all about?
I think those are the "plant rooms" that he talks about at 3:25 that power the fume cupboards.
This new building looks awesome!