tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13394901841631428432024-02-21T15:32:45.580+00:00black_tansa_Tony Duckworthhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05332115035191072624noreply@blogger.comBlogger62125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1339490184163142843.post-24454095221701004002014-07-08T18:05:00.001+01:002014-07-08T18:05:33.660+01:00The Sublime and the Ridiculous<span style="font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;">To reach the site for the school we travelled north from
Gulu to Parabongo and on the way witnessed a massive highway construction
project being funded and built by the Chinese.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>This new road will connect northern Uganda and the border crossing into
South Sudan, bringing with it both opportunities for the farmers to get their produce
to new markets and threats that their land will become increasingly desirable
to help feed the growing demand from China.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;">
</span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjyRYNUxfe2n9XR2T7fqa9lRvadzM-6FmeIG8d8s9jJQ1LLWFs0HoVrHPO4AIYS82UqScxYtnLaIocLUf5pDS2yWYhBR1N44lo64HNvxyx_fMwRHbQsU9wMfWtYdaH0whKPLCQ3R5pEX8QT/s1600/L1167859.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjyRYNUxfe2n9XR2T7fqa9lRvadzM-6FmeIG8d8s9jJQ1LLWFs0HoVrHPO4AIYS82UqScxYtnLaIocLUf5pDS2yWYhBR1N44lo64HNvxyx_fMwRHbQsU9wMfWtYdaH0whKPLCQ3R5pEX8QT/s1600/L1167859.JPG" height="213" width="320" /></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;">Typical Ugandan school building with</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;"> uninsulated wriggly tin roof </span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;">Once in the north of Uganda we visited many schools but they
were all built to the same colonial design, resembling pre-war barracks blocks
with mud brick or blockwork walls, large, poorly shaded windows and single
skin, wriggly tin roofs.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Inside, we
witnessed class sizes of up to one hundred and fifty children being squeezed
into the hot, humid, airless classrooms which must become totally unbearable
when the temperature reaches the maximum 40 degrees centigrade outside.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>School design is just one of the many
undesirable legacies that the British have left in Uganda; the Pearl of Africa.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<span style="font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;">
</span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiEscTFeJICvSQpomcAzuerhb4uGIsdDPeDqLMhS91o_bVO1OGhcoVyg2BIEosEtsC3mQiHtiEpXqhdJh9DPktdXcR-Y6Eye7sGRc8Um1Cu4E5rQLliImTnY0j8YSZYUxJJB04r2STJiWko/s1600/L1167849.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiEscTFeJICvSQpomcAzuerhb4uGIsdDPeDqLMhS91o_bVO1OGhcoVyg2BIEosEtsC3mQiHtiEpXqhdJh9DPktdXcR-Y6Eye7sGRc8Um1Cu4E5rQLliImTnY0j8YSZYUxJJB04r2STJiWko/s1600/L1167849.JPG" height="320" width="213" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;">Hot, humid, airless interior</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;">with </span><span style="font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;">class sizes up</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;">to 150 pupils</span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;">What is truly remarkable is the contrast between the
colonial “barracks block” school buildings and the beautiful, indigenous homes;
composed of clusters of simple, circular huts that appear to grow up out of the
landscape; in a similar way to the termite mounds that also share the land.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>These homes are made from freely available
local materials and use techniques that have been passed down through countless
generations.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<span style="font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;">However, there is far more to the design of these buildings
than that!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>They are brilliant examples
of bio-climatic architectural design, where every element has been carefully
refined to create a comfortable, well-tempered environment inside with no
energy inputs!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The heavy mud walls stay
cool and reduce the internal temperature.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>To stop them being heated up by the sun they are shaded by deeply
overhanging roofs which also protect the mud walls from the torrential rains
that occur twice a year.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>They are topped
by perfectly formed conical roofs, made from thin, flexible, round wood
saplings, lashed together with palm fibre ribbons.</span><br />
<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiTIiJzDh9xQPzNerLrHeyd30-VIvrN4e4aRNVlXNbKX9xaexI94REK8KjOLM0HewNhXVE0xmpZQqQU4bLCEP1HXdoY443f0jGCx67ABHDtiDOUa6ZouVGbKVc4k9iUwTmbgPmQHKuiwoqU/s1600/L1167794.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiTIiJzDh9xQPzNerLrHeyd30-VIvrN4e4aRNVlXNbKX9xaexI94REK8KjOLM0HewNhXVE0xmpZQqQU4bLCEP1HXdoY443f0jGCx67ABHDtiDOUa6ZouVGbKVc4k9iUwTmbgPmQHKuiwoqU/s1600/L1167794.JPG" height="213" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;">Traditional Ugandan home made of mud walls</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;">with thick, insulating thatched roof with</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;">deep overhanging </span><span style="font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;">eaves that shade the wall</span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;">The thatch covering this lean and structurally efficient
frame, which is light enough to be lifted into place in one piece, forms a deep
mat of plant fibres that prevents rain entering the interior.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This deep roof covering contains pockets of
air that provide insulation, preventing the heat from the equatorial sun
entering the interior; working in combination with the thermally massive walls
to maintain a comfortable, well-tempered environment!</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Courier New;"></span> </div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiYYc0O3H0gpLxLXVsPoUYsEATnwL53DzcUppoOAQGpuG3hvaO8mVlIjB6WmbKki2g82ZBdzr9H5D7qmX7qHw_94CdxMTslVR-0N5wp__K_O5HS4yCEgZKKwzQNiaxbDLzuT_uSVK3UJfTD/s1600/L1167973.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiYYc0O3H0gpLxLXVsPoUYsEATnwL53DzcUppoOAQGpuG3hvaO8mVlIjB6WmbKki2g82ZBdzr9H5D7qmX7qHw_94CdxMTslVR-0N5wp__K_O5HS4yCEgZKKwzQNiaxbDLzuT_uSVK3UJfTD/s1600/L1167973.JPG" height="213" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;">Cool dark interior with mud stool and</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;">passive, evaporative water cooler</span> </td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span style="font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;">Inside these perfectly formed, highly sustainable dwellings
the furniture is also made from the earth; with stools, tables, beds and
shelving units all exquisitely crafted from mud and adding to the total thermal
mass to help regulate interior temperatures.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>There is a seamless relationship between the fabric and furnishings that
create a simple elegant domestic environment that is firm and full of<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>delight!<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;">
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi5kd5xXtT0OYOVjGebCOmIVFW5aYjmWaKdK_b41me4K2sVDJX8XnVWb-SeATOkJLkGHtK5SJOuWh4JjKcXOBQ9-DyVw8QcqKMlQktyisHii76gTzctwDN1qOEDrBfSBrtIgoMEeDFXM8ER/s1600/L1168006.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi5kd5xXtT0OYOVjGebCOmIVFW5aYjmWaKdK_b41me4K2sVDJX8XnVWb-SeATOkJLkGHtK5SJOuWh4JjKcXOBQ9-DyVw8QcqKMlQktyisHii76gTzctwDN1qOEDrBfSBrtIgoMEeDFXM8ER/s1600/L1168006.JPG" height="213" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;">Food processor (right) and stove (left)</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;"> both made from </span><span style="font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;">the earth of the site</span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;">Even domestic appliances like stoves and grain grinders are
made from mud and stone and are seamlessly integrated into the walls and floor
so that everything displays its relationship with the earth from which it is
made.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>These truly beautiful spaces
reminded me of the paintings of interiors by Dutch Masters, sharing a warm,
earthy darkness; providing a calming and restful counterpoint to the hot, bright,
saturated colour outside.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<span style="font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;">
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg6EnPH13Te_3f_1xpghpSVNV0-apUp6pyva8DvtatuOUKS2W9g-QLuyvd1sGxVcHAuiqw_w4pgNIvZREx8bvehkRT-E93SxTn8bVm1iKt_1gWLtyT3u91JgXH26-GvSHyGDsxAk1wn7mmD/s1600/L1167986.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg6EnPH13Te_3f_1xpghpSVNV0-apUp6pyva8DvtatuOUKS2W9g-QLuyvd1sGxVcHAuiqw_w4pgNIvZREx8bvehkRT-E93SxTn8bVm1iKt_1gWLtyT3u91JgXH26-GvSHyGDsxAk1wn7mmD/s1600/L1167986.JPG" height="320" width="213" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;">Built-in adobe storage unit</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span style="font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;">The vision for the school we are going to help the community
to build is to work with the farmers to build the school themselves so that the
economic opportunities created by the construction process directly benefit the
local community.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We want it to be as
comfortable, elegant and sustainable as their homes and be able to be built and
maintained by them.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We want to help them
create a new exemplar for Ugandan school design that other communities will
want to replicate.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Ultimately, we want
to help them to avoid the mistakes that we have made in the so called developed
world and in so doing help us to see how we can develop our own new sustainable
architecture by rediscovering the lessons of our bio-climatic, vernacular.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<span style="font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;">Ultimately, I believe that it is essential that we return to
designing buildings which are directly shaped by their climate and made from
locally available and plentiful materials if we are to meet our needs in a
sustainable manner; weather that is in Uganda or Britain.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>To help us to realise this dream please donate
to </span><a href="http://www.xperedon.com/10081/pop-up-foundation.html"><span style="color: blue; font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;">Pop-up
Foundation</span></a><span style="font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;"> so that we can commence the realisation of the vision!<o:p></o:p></span></div>
Paul Hinkinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07733633908103075116noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1339490184163142843.post-75367954437097200952014-07-08T17:13:00.001+01:002014-07-08T17:13:17.520+01:00Come on IKEA; do the Right Thing!<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhLs2Pbvvm8FDW_1REChVOTgG9SuKpuFdq-V55GM4sHWbBPtQHAzlqftCg9nsRa8Q5LkPFftMb6xCYvxqDJL1j5bhb9TpAcpijaH-YOIiCkTI-h8meLHep-jaAzSbNUSfk8CWSZBZQyz-gP/s1600/Sainaburys+Greenwich.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhLs2Pbvvm8FDW_1REChVOTgG9SuKpuFdq-V55GM4sHWbBPtQHAzlqftCg9nsRa8Q5LkPFftMb6xCYvxqDJL1j5bhb9TpAcpijaH-YOIiCkTI-h8meLHep-jaAzSbNUSfk8CWSZBZQyz-gP/s1600/Sainaburys+Greenwich.jpg" height="258" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;">Sainsbury's pioneering eco store </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;">threatened with demolition</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;"> by IKEA after less than 15 years</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span style="font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;">IKEA’s decision to demolish Sainsbury’s pioneering eco store
on the Greenwich Peninsula after less than 15 years is both shocking and
enlightening.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>As everyone knows IKEA
understand sustainability; right?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Their
Calvinist heritage values the notion of the collective good, thrift and
endurance and this philosophy is embedded in the IKEA corporate mission
statement:<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;">
</span><span style="font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"></i></span><br />
<em><span style="font-family: Courier New;"></span></em><br />
<span style="font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">"Our vision is to
create a better everyday life for the many people."</i></span><br />
<em><span style="font-family: Courier New;"></span></em><br />
<em><span style="font-family: Courier New;"></span></em><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;">They develop upon their corporate mission statement,
expanding it into their customer proposition:</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Courier New;"></span> </div>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;">"Offering a wide
range of well-designed, functional home furnishing products at prices so low
that as many people as possible will be able to afford them."</span></i></blockquote>
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;">
</span></i><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;">So how can it be that a company with such a powerful and a
clearly articulated vision can believe that it is acceptable for them to be
responsible for the senseless destruction of a pioneering eco building after
less than 15 years?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I would argue that
their unacceptable behaviour on the Greenwich Peninsula is driven by an obsession
with cost not value and that this is distorting their decision making, leading
to outdated thinking that is not relevant to the specific demands of the many
people who occupy our crowded island; let alone the residents of Greenwich
Peninsula who already suffer from dangerously high levels of atmospheric air
pollution caused by road traffic.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<span style="font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;">
</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;"><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhbhuY6MY4YWVsr5krHzjnxkhxu09s4QIN_qDEi0iWvDFbVjwoHb8Gib9aLg2QQt3vvsxIObUyDsGZhAxA52Monkqzye3ozl6ONGGA1p8DCHxGaRP4prvWn9dPtjsGk2gKDAwFNDmYGDtVO/s1600/IKEA+Southampton.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhbhuY6MY4YWVsr5krHzjnxkhxu09s4QIN_qDEi0iWvDFbVjwoHb8Gib9aLg2QQt3vvsxIObUyDsGZhAxA52Monkqzye3ozl6ONGGA1p8DCHxGaRP4prvWn9dPtjsGk2gKDAwFNDmYGDtVO/s1600/IKEA+Southampton.jpg" height="320" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;">IKEA Southampton integrates their</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;">offer into a city centre context </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;">well served by public transport</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
</span><span style="font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;">
</span><span style="font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;"></span><span style="font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;">Prior to the recession IKEA delivered two stores in Coventry
and Southampton that sort to evolve a development model that retained their
distinctive blue and yellow presence but designed a solution to work in harmony
with, rather than to the detriment of their host communities, locating them in
urban locations, well served by public transport and adjacent to existing
retail centres.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>At this point I should
say that we worked with IKEA on their Hillingdon and Southampton projects, so
have an in-depth knowledge of both the process and the resultant development;
so it is uncomfortable to say the least advising a client that what they are</span>
doing is unacceptable and in conflict with their published sustainable
development objectives.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;">
</span><span style="font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;">We live in an increasingly resource constrained <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>world, where there is growing concern about
the availability and price of many common building materials, so to senselessly
destroy a perfectly serviceable building after less than 15 years, is in my
view immoral and totally unacceptable.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Customers expect corporations like IKEA and Sainsbury’s to do the right
thing when selecting and sourcing products, undertaking their business
activities and helping their customers to minimise their impacts on the
environment; but fail to see the hypocrisy that is implicit in promoting
demolition.</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiOWaiSiVvQ9zuIRfdxiP-cxvubRzOorTAC-Pvto2OkBYJxa5qdWsbpUsA4YitAyQC-9IDnVpZ9i8uHp0SKr80zGlVDwEddqeaFvTDioiyBCDKyKhAOZa4Npr9WvEZl9kJQBsUa-tdnPdGF/s1600/Sainaburys+Greenwich.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"></a> </div>
<br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgkiZmJiyBDVqJV5jaW5JbTmMw5nO0MP1YmBXYRidbYe4Jkm4MYy6RkDW-kHu4F4Vp4gLsBM14gwK0fqvzr3JzCgR4ww4A_9AK1EDGB7AWb1CQ4M2dJuvNJ9Broh5-n0Sz5XSlYcT9_GBS-/s1600/IKEA+Hillingdon.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgkiZmJiyBDVqJV5jaW5JbTmMw5nO0MP1YmBXYRidbYe4Jkm4MYy6RkDW-kHu4F4Vp4gLsBM14gwK0fqvzr3JzCgR4ww4A_9AK1EDGB7AWb1CQ4M2dJuvNJ9Broh5-n0Sz5XSlYcT9_GBS-/s1600/IKEA+Hillingdon.jpg" height="243" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;">IKEA Hillingdon scheme included a st</span><span style="font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;">ore</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;"> with direct access to the tube</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;"> at the end of an existing </span><span style="font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;">High Street</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;"> along with 200 affordable homes</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span style="font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;">Sainsbury’s justify their position by saying that building
technology has moved on since the building was completed and that their new
store will use the latest technology!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Does it therefore follow that they will be closing all of their branches
over fifteen years old: clearly that would be ridiculous!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>If it were not for the restrictions that they
have placed on the building preventing it being re-let to one of their
competitors, it would not now be threatened with demolition.<o:p></o:p></span><span style="font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;">IKEA say that they intend to recycle the small portion of
the demolition waste pile that they create and are also going to use a green
roof on their new store.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>When you bear
in mind that the proposed building will be over twenty meters tall I am not
sure what they believe this will achieve for local residents, but the fact that
they are happy to state this as some form of compensation smacks of tokenism of
the worst possible kind.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<span style="font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;">IKEA are about to submit their Reserved Matters Planning
Application and once that has been rubber stamped by The Royal Borough only
English Heritage and the Secretary of State can save the building!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Catherine Croft, </span><a href="http://www.c20society.org.uk/news/press-release-twentieth-century-society-calls-for-listing-of-sainsburys-millennium-eco-store/"><span style="color: blue; font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;">Twentieth
Century Society</span></a><span style="font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;"> Director said that:</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;">
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;">“Not only would the
demolition of such a recent building be a tragic waste of energy and resources,
but this supermarket is outstandingly important. It is the most innovative
retail store to have been built in the UK in the last 50 years.”</span></i></blockquote>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;">It still seems inconceivable to me that either IKEA or
Sainsbury’s are happy to have their brands associated with an act of such
wonton destruction but they appear not to care!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Last weekend, local residents who started a campaign </span><a href="https://www.facebook.com/pages/No-IKEA-Greenwich/1474668769429060"><span style="color: blue; font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;">“No
IKEA Greenwich Peninsula”</span></a><span style="font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;">, held a protest picnic in the eco-garden planted
by the </span><a href="https://www.woodlandtrust.org.uk/"><span style="color: blue; font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;">Woodland Trust</span></a><span style="font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;"> behind
the store.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>They oppose the loss of a
culturally significant public building and the introduction of a large, car
dependant store into the heart of their community, which already experiences
some of the worst air pollution in London.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<span style="font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;">I believe that many retail companies view their property
activities as not really core business and are therefore able to convince
themselves that different standards of behaviour apply to their property
activities.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>IKEA would not buy up millions
of pounds worth of second hand, perfectly functional home furnishing products, only
to then senselessly smash it up; as this, they would rightly judge, to be
unacceptable behaviour!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Yet this is
exactly what their property department are proposing!<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<span style="font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;">Come on IKEA, do the right thing, remove the threat of
demolition from a pioneering eco building that is less than fifteen years old and
think again.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Develop a proposition that
meets the needs of the many people of London by developing a store directly
served by train or tube and built with the same care, craftsmanship and
environmental stewardship that you demand from you furniture.</span></div>
Paul Hinkinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07733633908103075116noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1339490184163142843.post-91982652345883765572014-05-01T17:38:00.000+01:002014-05-01T17:38:13.165+01:00Uganda Balanced on a Knife Edge<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgAilevSPcdIL9nwFFxZ7gLom47Gc_X-aifCTzw_vrpujVXNCQ5n0KompdCsmczZC0EJuAWtGGTLcJOkwSiMBUQMTelJJHzvoaBNVuemW4xaJi3-CAT4-q8zcjbJjd9b8OdVpJ5QbET1zam/s1600/HIV+Community+Farm.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgAilevSPcdIL9nwFFxZ7gLom47Gc_X-aifCTzw_vrpujVXNCQ5n0KompdCsmczZC0EJuAWtGGTLcJOkwSiMBUQMTelJJHzvoaBNVuemW4xaJi3-CAT4-q8zcjbJjd9b8OdVpJ5QbET1zam/s1600/HIV+Community+Farm.JPG" height="213" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;">A beautiful organic farm</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;"> in Northern Uganda</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span style="font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;">Having recently returned from Uganda I am trying to readjust
to life in London.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In the week that I
spent there with Alison Hall from </span><a href="http://www.pop-up-foundation.org/"><span style="color: blue; font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;">Pop-Up
Foundation</span></a><span style="font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;"> we packed in a lot.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>She
was keen to show me a number of schools in the country so that I could
understand more about the challenges that we would need to overcome in building
our school.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I was keen to meet the
farmers who are our clients for the project and to explore the materials and
techniques that they use to build their own homes, as our project is going to
be self-built by them for their community and so that they retain the majority
of the value that the construction process will create.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;">What I was not prepared for was the shocking stories of the
people that I met, the reign of terror that they had experienced and the
inspirational way they are now rebuilding their shattered lives.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I was vaguely aware of the </span><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lord's_Resistance_Army"><span style="color: blue; font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;">Lord’s Resistance
Army</span></a><span style="font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;">, but had no real understanding of the terror that they perpetrated throughout
northern Uganda during their 20 year assault on the people of the region.</span></div>
<span style="font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;"><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;">
</div>
</span><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;">
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhj_EZgbNjagZw1kkVMA12xrXPuvnJfaBJhDoP3hE-HQYb19DILLvXhoq8YxDJgx6KWg-Ygt50_L0-T7lKskutyMfZC3QlisBY-FZJzHjGwEHx853O-im4iYc9jx1I9Bk1p9ZF4IvKNJRbv/s1600/Child+Mother+Annette.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhj_EZgbNjagZw1kkVMA12xrXPuvnJfaBJhDoP3hE-HQYb19DILLvXhoq8YxDJgx6KWg-Ygt50_L0-T7lKskutyMfZC3QlisBY-FZJzHjGwEHx853O-im4iYc9jx1I9Bk1p9ZF4IvKNJRbv/s1600/Child+Mother+Annette.jpg" height="180" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;">Annette a Child Mother and </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;">aspiring national team goalie</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span style="font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;">We met a group of child mothers, all of whom gave birth
under the age of thirteen, following abduction and rape by the rebels.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>One young woman, called Annette, told her own
personal horror story of how she was forced to dance on her dead mother’s body
before being made to carry her severed head.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Today, after years of help and support by her community she is the
statuesque goal keeper in her local football team and has been spotted as a
potential star of the future, aspiring to playing in Uganda’s national side.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;">For me the people that left the strongest impression were a
group of farmers who were all HIV Positive, many as a result of sexual violence
inflicted during the conflict.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Working
together they have rebuilt their burned out homes, replanted their staple crops
and are now expecting their first coffee harvest, from seedlings provided by </span><a href="http://www.seedsfordevelopment.org/"><span style="color: blue; font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;">Seeds for Development</span></a><span style="font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;">, planted
three years ago.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>They were happy and
healthy and provided a shining beacon of hope for other suffers of this
dreadful disease along with a fantastic demonstration of the ability of the
human spirit to overcome outrageous adversity.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhUMw26tTAEYRO8DFBRhdlD-ta2xa4U08zKu3-QxjeJY4tqQtJ918P9ArCD0oc2BObjLw5er-9ZSiLSREW6djOlJ8bBAgB1aYveg0_ucav7-_K49XdLpqBcPbzuL-Ap-dlgGg5DDbdn5lQ2/s1600/HIV+Community.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhUMw26tTAEYRO8DFBRhdlD-ta2xa4U08zKu3-QxjeJY4tqQtJ918P9ArCD0oc2BObjLw5er-9ZSiLSREW6djOlJ8bBAgB1aYveg0_ucav7-_K49XdLpqBcPbzuL-Ap-dlgGg5DDbdn5lQ2/s1600/HIV+Community.JPG" height="320" width="213" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;">The truly inspiring</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;"> happy and healthy</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;"> HIV positive farmers</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Courier New;">collective</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span style="font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;">
</span><span style="font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;">In many ways northern Uganda is balanced on a knife edge and
the decisions that its leaders take will define the future for many
people.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>During the conflict agriculture
was almost entirely suspended for twenty years, with farmers forced into
government camps for their own protection.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Anyone found outside the camp fences was assumed to be a rebel; and
shot.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The legacy of this terrible period
is fertile, organic land, rich in nutrients.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;">Currently, everything that is grown in this region is
organic, as fertilizers are too expensive for farmers to consider and yields
are naturally high.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>With global pressure
to increase food production it will not be long before the fertilizer salesmen
come knocking on the door with their promises and lies and it is in my opinion
essential that markets are available to allow farmers to secure the premium
that their organic produce deserves so that they can make informed decisions
about their future.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<span style="font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;">The journey from our southern base in Mokono, a suburban
town outside Kampala to Gulu, the location of one of the largest camps in the
north, took six hours on roads varying from modern tarmac to rough, red dirt
tracks.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>On the way we passed a varying
landscape that was green and verdant even though it was the end of the dry
season.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We experienced sudden torrential
showers that turned the wide ditches on either side of the road into turbulent
rivers of rust red water.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We also passed
the first signs of change, with huge areas of land totally cleared of all
trees, shrubs and plants ready to be sown with GMO seeds.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I had not realised that these crops do not
provide fertile seeds, so when this change is made it ties farmers into buying
more each year.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It would appear that
much like the British created mono-cultural plantations of sugar cane and tea
during the colonial period, there are now significant pressures to see this
form of agri-business become the dominant agricultural model.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<span style="font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;">Uganda is rightly described as the Pearl of Africa but it is
a pearl balanced on a knife edge and must avoid the mistakes that we have made and
achieve truly sustainable development that is socially equitable, economically
sustainable in the long term and achieved with the minimum impact upon the
environment.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It must not be allowed to
become the dumping ground for the outdated products of global corporations or
be seduced by outmoded short term thinking that is not in the people’s best
interests but will bring rich rewards to the powerful few. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
Paul Hinkinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07733633908103075116noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1339490184163142843.post-54881726305636794492014-04-17T13:17:00.000+01:002014-04-17T13:17:49.642+01:00Made in Uganda: A Sustainable School
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;">
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;"><strong>“How would you like to design and
build a sustainable school in Uganda”?<o:p></o:p></strong></span></span></i></div>
<span style="font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;">
<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;">Not the sort
of question that you expect to be asked at an Awards ceremony; but then the
<a href="https://www.2degreesnetwork.com/">2Degrees</a> Awards are not your run of the mill event!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The person asking the question was Alison
Hall of <a href="http://www.seedsfordevelopment.org/">Seeds for Development</a> and <a href="http://www.pop-up-foundation.org/">Pop-Up Foundation</a>.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>She and Paul Clarke were very happy because
they had just picked up their awards for Solution of the Year; I on the other
hand was not; as I had not!</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;">
<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;"><o:p></o:p></span></span> </div>
<span style="font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;">
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhtxLOPmp6PqhyoKwxKqokBvtlnE0-Hk289q3Wiq57B51ZlTVPCw3692Y7xUdEvuYydatNJ4MSA91rvfP90VNaM_4bBsJEPL6RtzgTe4bplEoA1fNYNDMTU5CkwIWcNrxfCS18ibbmOcBUg/s1600/L1167792.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhtxLOPmp6PqhyoKwxKqokBvtlnE0-Hk289q3Wiq57B51ZlTVPCw3692Y7xUdEvuYydatNJ4MSA91rvfP90VNaM_4bBsJEPL6RtzgTe4bplEoA1fNYNDMTU5CkwIWcNrxfCS18ibbmOcBUg/s1600/L1167792.JPG" height="213" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Beautiful traditional homes<br />
built from mud, thatch<br />
and small diameter timber</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
</span><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;">So we
started working with Alison and Paul to design the school to be built on a site
in Arugudi Village, Northern Uganda.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>From the
first discussions it became clear that there was a powerful meeting of minds
about how the school should be conceived.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>We wanted collectively to create an enduring, local solution that the
community could build, maintain and run, using locally sourced and easily
available materials and technology.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We
wanted to develop and improve upon the existing vernacular architecture,
breaking the colonial tradition of breeze block and wriggle tin that dominates most
local school design.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We were also keen
to avoid too much architecture and wanted to strive to find simple easy and
efficient solutions to problems, so that we could provide an adoptable
precedent that could be applied by other communities throughout the
region.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;">
<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;">It quickly
became apparent that one of the biggest challenges would be around water and
sanitation.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It has long been recognised
that female education is the key to unlocking development, yet currently most
girls leave school when they reach puberty due to a lack of basic sanitation.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>One of the first actions in making the school
will be the sinking of a borehole to provide a supply of water for drinking and
personal hygiene.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<span style="font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;">
<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;">Human waste is
a major health hazard, so we have developed the design of the school around an anaerobic
digester that will process this material, from hazardous waste into a series of
useful nutrients.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Solids and liquids will
be turned into fertiliser, used to grow crops that will provide lunch for
children.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The methane gas from the
process will be collected and used to cook lunch, removing the need for timber
or charcoal for cooking.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<span style="font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;">
<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;">The school
buildings will all be built by the community and their design has been heavily
influenced by the local vernacular tradition of simple circular huts, with
“adobe” earth walls and conical thatched roofs.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>We believe that it is essential that local, freely available materials
are used, so that the environmental footprint of the development is minimal,
material costs are virtually eliminated and the skills and knowledge of local
people are valued and developed.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<span style="font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;">
<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;">However, this
philosophical approach presented a significant challenge, since during the recent
armed conflict many people were injured or killed when the thatched roofs of
their homes were set on fire with them in them!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>There is now strong resistance to thatch and we are exploring other alternatives,
including exploring the use of fast growing bamboo to form both the roof
structure and make bamboo roof tiles, due to its inherent fire resistance.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<span style="font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;">
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjxDE_wG-yX7R7G77KCmP7LVn1ptGgxSLjwOWvB9nBl_6jEUt7xr2sWJjPGaPhv10mGOe5-r55bqZP3Deo7CfBi00S94q6MLx3z4MPZqayHVkgx3Gm-4Sf4QsevTUb1PxkBuho6uQbqUgUc/s1600/site+plan.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjxDE_wG-yX7R7G77KCmP7LVn1ptGgxSLjwOWvB9nBl_6jEUt7xr2sWJjPGaPhv10mGOe5-r55bqZP3Deo7CfBi00S94q6MLx3z4MPZqayHVkgx3Gm-4Sf4QsevTUb1PxkBuho6uQbqUgUc/s1600/site+plan.jpg" height="222" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The conceptual layout of the school is less a plan,<br />
more an "aunt Sally" to be challenged, questioned and adapted<br />
by the farming community who we will help to build their own school</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;">
<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;">To help
simplify and speed up the adobe wall construction we are developing a simple
hand press that will produce regular shaped and sized mud bricks that can
either be dried in the sun or using a parabolic solar oven, that can also be
used to cook food once construction is complete.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<span style="font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;">
<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;">The
classrooms are hexagonal spaces capable of accommodating 50 children each,
arranged in clusters of five to allow one teacher to oversee up to 250 children
when necessary.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The space enclosed by
the classroom cluster will be shaded by a tree to create a cool external shared
amenity space, with large over sailing roofs reducing solar gains and providing
shelter from monsoon rains.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Light will
be provided within the classrooms by plastic water bottle rooflights that
refract natural light through water to produce the equivalent of 50W light
bulb.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<span style="font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;">
<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;">The school
site will also include a demonstration home where the community will come to
learn about how they can reduce their impact through the adoption of new
technologies like solar stoves, improve sanitation by installing simple tip
taps so that they can easily wash their hands and learn to make and install
water bottle rooflights.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<span style="font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;">
<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;">So after
nine months of research and development I shall be leaving for Uganda on
Sunday.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I have had my jabs, started
taking my malaria meds and am feeling both nervous and excited.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It will be my first visit to Africa and I am
sure that I will learn a lot in the week that I am there.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>One thing is certain, the discipline of
designing using local materials and labour will certainly provide valuable
learning that we will apply to projects at home.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Just imagine what our economy and buildings
would be like if we could only use locally available labour, materials and
technologies?<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
Paul Hinkinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07733633908103075116noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1339490184163142843.post-83205359701137454952014-03-06T17:51:00.001+00:002014-03-06T17:51:44.345+00:00Black Thoughts on EcoBuild<span style="font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;">It has been a totally surreal twelve hours; last night I was
at Royal Greenwich to witness the planning committee rubber stamp the outline
consent that will permit the destruction of Sainsbury’s Greenwich, one of the
most innovative and pioneering public eco-buildings, and then next morning off
to EcoBuild to be bombarded by every kind of product, all pitched with an
eco-spin.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I guess if we are going to
demolish our best building after less than 15 years we really need to question
the benefit of investing time, effort or energy to improve building performance;
but that discussion can wait for another day!<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;">
</span><br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjs_ZjmtuXRadpsB99LsT-PlGZfgT4DYHerrCe_llHakrz6LoTa6pDGTkljClqJzcv3lT4bbFZsyqe4LQjtCy95rgAf9s7ohdcZYbOW1rGE0UJAkmXGhffQ8KqQJIy8q4-oBpnP-WFyVIbv/s1600/solar+light.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjs_ZjmtuXRadpsB99LsT-PlGZfgT4DYHerrCe_llHakrz6LoTa6pDGTkljClqJzcv3lT4bbFZsyqe4LQjtCy95rgAf9s7ohdcZYbOW1rGE0UJAkmXGhffQ8KqQJIy8q4-oBpnP-WFyVIbv/s1600/solar+light.jpg" height="212" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;">Solar powered alternative</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;"> to kerosene lamps</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;"> supplied by Charity Solar Aid</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span style="font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;">My mission this morning was to search out the small and the
innovative and I have to credit the organisers of EcoBuild, because they were
far better represented than at previous shows.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>I would suggest that visitors start their visit, as I did, by heading
for Resource Area (Realising the Opportunities of a Circular Economy).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Within this co-located event, is a wide range
of small education, charity and SME businesses all working to promote resource
efficiency and reduce waste.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;">
</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;">The Royal College of Art are promoting their </span><a href="http://www.sustain.rca.ac.uk/"><span style="color: blue; font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;">SustainRCA</span></a><span style="font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;"> initiative providing
education, research and consultancy for businesses.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span><a href="http://www.greatrecovery.org.uk/"><span style="color: blue; font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;">The
Great Recovery</span></a><span style="font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;"> challenges the current economic and environmental model of
take, make, dispose manufacturing. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>They
promote a shift towards more circular systems and believe good design thinking
is pivotal to this transition. The Great Recovery is building new networks to
explore the issues, investigate innovation gaps and incubate new partnerships.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Courier New;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;">
</span><a href="http://www.andshare.co/"><span style="color: blue; font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;">&SHARE</span></a><span style="font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;"> are a
resource sharing enterprise that provides an insurance backed platform to
encourage organisation to meet and share their resources, including workspace,
equipment, skills or data.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>They also offer
users the opportunity to choose to work with businesses and non-profit
organisations in their local area.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In a
similar vein, </span><a href="http://www.therestartproject.org/"><span style="color: blue; font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;">restart</span></a><span style="font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;"> provide
training for individuals, groups and organisations on how to repair our
electronic gadgets, helping to reduce the 23% of functioning equipment taken
for disposal.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;">
The combination of environmental and economic sustainability
drivers being linked to positive social outcomes was a feature of many of the
most interesting propositions as was the increased diversity of organisations
represented.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;"></span><br />
<a href="http://www.goldfingerfactory.com/"><span style="color: blue; font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;">Goldfinger Factory</span></a><span style="font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;"> <span style="mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">is an upcycling production and learning hub
for London’s most deprived residents, selling desirable home furnishings and
fit-outs for London’s trendsetting residents and businesses.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Based at the bottom of the iconic Trellick
Tower by Erno Goldfinger, they must have one of the most desirable factory
locations in London!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span>They provide
free workshops for the local community in furniture up-cycling, DIY and
interior design as well as accredited training, work skills experience and
ultimately create new job opportunities.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;">Among the acres of PV on show, coming mainly from China,
were a number of smaller organisations offering renewable energy storage and
optomisation solutions.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>My favourite show
giveaway was a Cadbury’s Boost bar from </span><a href="http://www.solariboost.co.uk/"><span style="color: blue; font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;">SOLARiBOOST</span></a><span style="font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;">
(do you see what they did there?) a low cost device which uses a domestic hot
water cylinder to store electricity from PV panels as heat, removing the need
for a separate solar hot water systems.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<span style="font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;">
Similarly, </span><a href="http://www.meetmaslow.com/"><span style="color: blue; font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;">Maslow</span></a><span style="font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;"> provides
modern, high performance battery storage of renewable energy used to power
direct current (DC), LED lighting systems and other DC equipment, without the
need for wasteful power supply adaptors.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>It is great to see these storage technologies coming to market and
challenging the assumption that renewables will be unable to meet our future
energy needs due to their inherent, intermittent availability.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;">
</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;">The UK timber industry was well represented under the
inspirational </span><a href="http://www.growninbritain.org/"><span style="color: blue; font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;">Grown in Britain</span></a><span style="font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;">
banner and included a particularly good stand from </span><a href="http://www.englishwoodlandtimber.co.uk/"><span style="color: blue; font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;">English Woodland Timber Ltd</span></a><span style="font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;">
who offer a wide range of shingles, timber cladding and other products made
from locally grow timber, along with larger section sizes, seasoned in West
Sussex and suitable for a wide range of specialist joinery applications.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I would love to see the Grown in Britain idea
developed into building projects that are Made in Britain, to create jobs,
preserve value from construction locally and ultimately help rebalance our
economy.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;">I was surprised and delighted to see </span><a href="http://www.rentez-vous.com/"><span style="color: blue; font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;">Rentez-Vous</span></a><span style="font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;"> a marketplace that allows individuals
to hire out their under-utilised designer clothing represented.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It is interesting that they see value in
presenting their service to the EcoBuild audience and I hope that this trend
for diversification is encouraged and supported by favourable terms for
charities, non-profit organisations and start-ups in the future.</span></div>
<span style="font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;"> </span><div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="color: blue; font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="background-color: black; color: white;">My most surprising product of the show was a high performance pet door from</span> </span>p</span><a href="http://www.petwalk.at/"><span style="color: blue; font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;">etwalk</span></a><span style="font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;"> which
they claim offers great design, comfort, energy saving and protection for you
and your pets.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>My only reservation is
whether our two Dachshunds, Hyphen and Ditto are bright enough to work out how
a door works?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>At least it can be
programmed to open automatically when the door senses their identity chips!<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<span style="font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;">Best visual aid was by </span><a href="http://www.giraffeinnovation.com/"><span style="color: blue; font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;">Giraffe Innovation Ltd</span></a><span style="color: black; font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;"> <span style="color: white;">who produced
a statue of a person and scaled their hands, feet, stomach and mouth to
represent the impact of their carbon footprint and
then provide recommendations on how to </span></span><a href="http://www.changinghabbits.co.uk/"><span style="color: blue; font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;">Change Your Habit</span></a><span style="font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;"><span style="color: black;">.</span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<span style="font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;">
</span><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<span style="font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;">I had a really interesting discussion with </span><a href="http://www.solar-aid.org/"><span style="color: blue; font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;">Solar Aid</span></a><span style="font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;"> provides low cost solar powered
alternatives to expensive, polluting and dangerous kerosene lamps and we shall
be exploring opportunities to collaborate on our sustainable school project in
Uganda after my site visit at the end of the month.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;">In summary, I would say that uncertainty over the Green Deal
has significantly reduced the number of refurbishment products on display and
that wind turbines have disappeared almost completely, to be replaced by an
explosion in PV and biofuel systems.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The
Green Fringe and Resource Co-located event are both good initiatives which have
helped to make this show more interesting and relevant than it has been for
some time.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I would love to see the
diversity displayed in the exhibition reflected in the wider conference
programme and would encourage the organisers to seek out the innovative and inspirational
work of the many smaller organisations who struggle to get their story’s told
in mainstream media.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
Paul Hinkinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07733633908103075116noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1339490184163142843.post-92036184080298366842014-03-05T13:00:00.000+00:002014-03-05T13:00:05.773+00:00The Time for Rhetoric is Over!<span style="font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;">The time for
rhetoric is over; what we need now is concentrated and concerted action leading
to actual strategic change!<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;">
</span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhSy8YnGoJNRUD1aZ5htzVB-DsZgjnVj1ZE8Aao6zYSmAVfw4sOQM0zL6kb4IT_OwdbXp-NY_AlWnyiZ42MXIAhFSQ8Ols0hnynczkPVVNsALQDIARfHU-3iStLwyco7NHEEAi0b8TkbWZr/s1600/Flooded+Crossroads.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhSy8YnGoJNRUD1aZ5htzVB-DsZgjnVj1ZE8Aao6zYSmAVfw4sOQM0zL6kb4IT_OwdbXp-NY_AlWnyiZ42MXIAhFSQ8Ols0hnynczkPVVNsALQDIARfHU-3iStLwyco7NHEEAi0b8TkbWZr/s1600/Flooded+Crossroads.jpg" height="192" width="320" /></a></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;">It is my
belief that we are at a cross roads in the evolution of sustainable development
in the UK and that the choices that we make in the next decade will radically
shape the nature of our economy, environment and society for the rest of the
next century.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Get our choices right and
we will make the transition to a zero carbon economy and develop the tools,
techniques and products to help less developed nations achieve similar
benefits.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>However, if we get it wrong
and allow short-term, poor strategic thinking to dictate our choices, we will
see the rapid destabilisation of our economy and environment, creating a
perfect storm that we will be increasingly powerless to arrest. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjX2xLfu9FJ96XRZHgrXjnQyxx73Z3ImzLfEDWKGMZNMHpdRlTqKHayBZgWLWZV0N-Lc8ffBkaofBVOwUMVuVXGEI7O1mwCH2v3_LfsjVz1evp3L7JumZzaZ3hIJTkiH31esrgFW1VHwk2T/s1600/Nuclear+Power.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjX2xLfu9FJ96XRZHgrXjnQyxx73Z3ImzLfEDWKGMZNMHpdRlTqKHayBZgWLWZV0N-Lc8ffBkaofBVOwUMVuVXGEI7O1mwCH2v3_LfsjVz1evp3L7JumZzaZ3hIJTkiH31esrgFW1VHwk2T/s1600/Nuclear+Power.jpg" /></a><span style="font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;">
One of the
first issues that we will need to decide upon which will have a major influence
on our future is the relationship between energy demand and supply.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We know that we need to renew <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>our power infrastructure and that this will
significantly increase our energy costs, yet we are rushing headlong into
signing contracts for foreign built and operated nuclear power stations, although
we have done virtually nothing to refurbish our poorly performing existing
building estate.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Surely a programme of
demand reduction must be undertaken before we are locked into onerous and
expensive energy supply contracts that will last for the next 50 years?<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;">
</span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjUwOKDlz-ugm-1bxDSoOymORpw_BJ84bacQO4T1FNT8fOfnCHBtVXGKuw95j07wvpSCKN3UcLqtO-Pr_vIv2FEgh_5tbv0SWkVOlPibWhqGQzfFDnR0Hcdsli4JBf3Umhx6Al9raUS3Uqs/s1600/No+Fracking.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjUwOKDlz-ugm-1bxDSoOymORpw_BJ84bacQO4T1FNT8fOfnCHBtVXGKuw95j07wvpSCKN3UcLqtO-Pr_vIv2FEgh_5tbv0SWkVOlPibWhqGQzfFDnR0Hcdsli4JBf3Umhx6Al9raUS3Uqs/s1600/No+Fracking.jpg" /></a></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;">In our rush to
make inappropriate and short term choices we are, in my opinion, also embracing
fracking with unseemly haste!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Did I miss
something, or is “natural” gas not a non-renewable fossil fuel just like the
stuff that we previously got out of the North Sea before we used it all
up?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>How are we going to prevent the
worst effects of climate change if we are simply to maintain our reliance on
fossil fuels?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We need a renewable energy
strategy and to develop appropriate expertise to drive the transition to a
post-carbon Renewable Age.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This will
provide a clear vision for economic development, help to develop new green tech
businesses and provide the impetus for training and skills development.</span><a href="https://www.blogger.com/null" name="GoBack"></a><o:p></o:p></div>
<span style="font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;">To effectively
manage our activities, the construction industry must work tirelessly to
achieve positive social outcomes and ensure that all of our products are
tailored to fit the people who will use them.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>We must urgently invest in R&D to increase our collective knowledge
base and ensure that the gap between predicted and actual performance is
closed.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We need to adopt User Centred Design
methodologies that will ensure that buildings are fit for human occupation,
breaking the tyranny of the image which forces people to inhabit ever more
contorted forms conceived with no thought to the effects that they will have
upon their inhabitants.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This will only
be achieved when we radically improve the way we procure design and fully
embrace intelligent, evidence based team selection protocols.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<span style="font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;">Ultimately we
need to develop a model for integrated sustainable development where social
drivers are placed at the epicentre of the design process with both economics
and environmental issues thoroughly address and reconciled.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We need to find appropriate and relevant
solutions that will drive through the paradigm shift that we desperately need
if we are to address the pressing concerns of our age and create enduring value
for those who will follow us.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Courier New;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Courier New;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Courier New;">This piece is also published in the UK Green Building Council(UK-GBC) publication:</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;"><strong>A defining decade:</strong></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;"><strong>Radically transforming the built environment by 2025</strong></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;"><strong>A collection of essays from UK-GBC's Leaders' Network</strong></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Courier New;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;"><a href="http://www.ukgbc.org/resources/publication/defining-decade-%E2%80%93-radically-transforming-built-environment-2025">http://www.ukgbc.org/resources/publication/defining-decade-%E2%80%93-radically-transforming-built-environment-2025</a><o:p></o:p></span></div>
Paul Hinkinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07733633908103075116noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1339490184163142843.post-17710826781871888902014-02-19T18:32:00.000+00:002014-02-24T16:56:17.038+00:00FutureHaus<span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;"><span style="color: white;">Whatever platitudes our politician’s
come up with to justify their negligent lack of investment in energy efficiency
and low carbon supplies, I believe that we must now accept the inevitable; the
cost of running our homes is likely to increase dramatically! In response to
this I believe that the FutureHaus will be sold not on what it cost to run but
instead on the energy yield and income that they can deliver to occupants.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I believe that the design of the home is on
the threshold of a period of rapid and dramatic change.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Energy costs and concern regarding energy
security, coupled with technological innovation will see the home moving from a
consumer to a producer of energy.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></span></span><br />
<span style="color: white; font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;">
</span><br />
<div class="listparagraph" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 6pt; tab-stops: 36.0pt;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjv1a6WoT-8TZC33kZCD4WZSYlUiB16ckI_eqkJ1wxMNhW2W_OqCwDJZQJ8YoZUJSA09tpqG385BrKM9nHOfeivp2I7fn72quvZSF326KxuAYQYsR8bNyzGqrLqDsrSoi4g-VGspdHaW0ML/s1600/1950's+house+of+the+future.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="color: white;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjv1a6WoT-8TZC33kZCD4WZSYlUiB16ckI_eqkJ1wxMNhW2W_OqCwDJZQJ8YoZUJSA09tpqG385BrKM9nHOfeivp2I7fn72quvZSF326KxuAYQYsR8bNyzGqrLqDsrSoi4g-VGspdHaW0ML/s1600/1950's+house+of+the+future.jpg" height="294" width="320" /></span></a><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;"><span style="color: white;">Smart systems will store
excess energy in household appliances including hot water cylinders, fridges
and freezers and new technologies will make battery back-up an affordable
option to run the home overnight.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>A new
generation of small scale, building integrated wind turbines, concealed in roof
ridge tiles, will silently and invisibly harness the wind to provide the
majority of power during the winter months.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Even human waste will be processed within the home by small scale anaerobic
digesters, designed to look like other domestic appliances, that can be
integrated into the interior of the home and provide both heat and power, along
with limitless amounts of compost to feed the organic fruit and veg grown in
the rooftop allotment.<o:p></o:p></span></span></span></div>
<span style="color: white; font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;">
</span><br />
<div class="listparagraph" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 6pt; tab-stops: 36.0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;"><span style="color: white;"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">The major challenge of our age
will be the retrofitting of our existing building stock; 80% of which will
still be in use by 2050.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This represents
a massive opportunity for trusted </span>organisations<span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"> to offer customers
the advice and help that they require to bring their homes up to the carbon
positive standards required.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>As new
green technologies mature, their costs will reduce making them affordable
solutions for the vast majority of customers.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>We will need to find affordable, less disruptive ways of insulating
large numbers of solid wall housing and this offers a significant opportunity
for job creation and growth in the wider UK economy.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The technology in the home will need to be
managed and updated and this will see the growth in new service offerings that
will maintain the performance of the home in a similar way to the role that the
garage plays in helping keep your car on the road.<o:p></o:p></span></span></span></div>
<span style="color: white; font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;">
</span><br />
<div class="listparagraph" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 6pt; tab-stops: 36.0pt;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;"><span style="color: white;">As homes move towards zero
carbon and on to carbon positive, a series of exciting opportunities will emerge.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The home will be able to become the fuel
station for the car, charging its batteries with clean solar energy.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Solar hydrogen panels will provide the fuel
for a cars hydrogen fuel cell, with the same system used to power and recharge
the home when the car is in the garage.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Technologies that store thermal and electrical energy will develop
rapidly and will remove the concerns that customers may have about the
intermittent nature of renewable technologies. <o:p></o:p></span></span></span></div>
<span style="color: white; font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;">
</span><br />
<div class="listparagraph" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 6pt; tab-stops: 36.0pt;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;"><span style="color: white;">Timber used for construction will
continue to expand, but there will be an increasing demand for locally grown
timber that creates forestry jobs in the local market and where the value added
through converting lumber into timber products benefits the local economy.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In areas like the UK where land for forestry
is restricted this is likely to drive the development of engineered timber
products like Structural insulated Panels (SIP’s) and structures made from round
wood, forestry thinning’s, will use limited amounts of material in very
structurally efficient arrangements.<o:p></o:p></span></span></span></div>
<span style="color: white; font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;">
</span><br />
<div class="listparagraph" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 6pt; tab-stops: 36.0pt;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;"><span style="color: white;">Timber waste will be converted
into wood flour or chippings and used in combination with recycled
post-consumer waste plastics to form a range of extruded sections that will be
able to be used for both structural and non-structural application.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Waste paper and card will be used to make
high performance structural tubes, achieving the carbon sequestration benefits
of timber while reprocessing and upcycling locally derived waste.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Ultimately the notion of waste will become
obsolete, with all material reprocessed to create new, high value products,
creating jobs and helping to grow our local green economy.<o:p></o:p></span></span></span></div>
<span style="color: white; font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;">
</span><br />
<div class="listparagraph" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 6pt; tab-stops: 36.0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;"><span style="color: white;"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">Manufacturing technologies
including 3D printing and CNC machining will allow manufacturing to be relocated
from the Far East and undertaken within local markets once more, saving cost,
time and emissions associated with existing long logistics supply chains.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>New manufacturing technology will offer the
possibility for products like flat pack furniture to be designed and
manufactured in store, <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>allowing all
customers the opportunity to become designer, </span>customising
<span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">products
to satisfy their own unique requirements.<o:p></o:p></span></span></span></div>
<span style="color: white; font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;">
</span><br />
<div class="listparagraph" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 6pt; tab-stops: 36.0pt;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;"><span style="color: white;">Ultimately I believe that we
are on the threshold of a new age where homes are designed not simply to
provide shelter but to make a positive contribution to the economic and
environmental as well as the physical wellbeing of occupants.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This will demand new solar settlements,
innovative residential design and integrated and intelligent utilities.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>If anyone out there fancies joining me in the
quest to develop the FutureHaus, along with the settlements that it will
create, please give me a call!<o:p></o:p></span></span></span></div>
Paul Hinkinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07733633908103075116noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1339490184163142843.post-24662698745213455732013-11-13T15:37:00.000+00:002014-02-24T17:00:29.343+00:00Save Sainsbury's Greenwich<span style="font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;">So it is now official, Sainsbury's are to close their pioneering
low energy supermarket in Greenwich after being open for less than 15 years and
if approved it will be demolished to make way for an IKEA.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>So a building that was awarded the RIBA
Journal Sustainability Award in 2000 and was shortlisted for the Stirling
Prize, the largest prize in British Architecture, the same year will be torn
down after such a short period of time with barely a passing comment.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;"></span><br />
<div class="Body" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEihiO98doPGt-HYgMSHp-WUca0GpW3vo44weSOnCaC8mLNl-F-LdS2PURemW_Nu2NWDHwPWDnOIynmWN3KZiKA3k_akLV1arcYS3CB7WYdx80696SNNqftBcYKi6Ei6qlYPj0Ai2_yXEWYl/s1600/00517+greenwich+finish+3.tif" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEihiO98doPGt-HYgMSHp-WUca0GpW3vo44weSOnCaC8mLNl-F-LdS2PURemW_Nu2NWDHwPWDnOIynmWN3KZiKA3k_akLV1arcYS3CB7WYdx80696SNNqftBcYKi6Ei6qlYPj0Ai2_yXEWYl/s320/00517+greenwich+finish+3.tif" height="208" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;">Is the sun about to set on </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;">Sainsbury's Greenwich</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;"> after less than 15 years trading?</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span style="font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;">We'll not as far as I am concerned!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>You see I spent nearly five years of my early
career developing the concept for what was then a pioneering development.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>My team spent long hours designing a building
that would redefine retail architecture and challenge the belief at the time,
that all retailers required from their buildings was something to keep the
customers, the technology required to moderate the internal environment and the
fridges and freezers out of the rain.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>The norm was for a dark, windowless interior, that was ultimately little
more than a poorly built and badly performing shed, with no consideration given
to customer comfort.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Lighting, heating
and cooling were all achieved with inefficient mechanical systems, that wasted
energy and did nothing to improve the conditions that customers were expected
to endure.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<span style="font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;">
</span><br />
<div class="Body" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;">So why is it considered obsolete and ready for demolition after
such a short period of time?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>On one
level it is a victim of its own success; as since opening it has been well
received by customers, achieving the highest Customer Satisfaction Index score
for any Sainsbury's within the first year of trading.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>As the number of people living on the
peninsular has increased the store trade has outgrown the building and
Sainsbury's want to move 500 meters away to a new store that will be three
times the size and offer food and non-food along with an internet hub to serve
online customers.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>So the building is
well liked and successful but still cannot find an alternative use?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<span style="font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;">
</span><br />
<div class="Body" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;">So this is what gets me really annoyed, the reason why it cannot
be relet to another tenant is that Sainsbury's will have in place a restrictive
covenant on the building as part of their deal with the developer of their new
store, preventing it from being used for food retailing.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I believe that this is anti-competitive and
is a flagrant abuse of the planning system which originally granted consent for
the development.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I have good memories of
many meetings with English Partnerships and the London Borough of Greenwich as
they considered our proposals and ensured that they were in keeping with local
and national planning policies.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This
process placed restrictions on the eventual consent including a requirement to
review and reduce car parking provision over time and another to prevent extension
in the first 10 years.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>What none of us
envisaged at the time was that once consent was granted it could be removed by
Sainsbury's without any further democratic consideration and that by granting
consent for retail use they could both have their cake and eat it, benefitting
from the enhanced value of the asset that the consent crystallised but able to
limit its scope so that only non-competing retailers could benefit when it no
longer fulfilled Sainsbury's requirements.</span></div>
<div class="Body" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Courier New;"></span><br /></div>
<div class="Body" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjO6mq1YbN8oArwXf6Ri1SkmbaNVKZRQwWvcT_bY1imEZvyQbOqDW5RlgJhi49-1UvlN7u1_OMYTukGszmFfi1GoFB9nzqBQFRRgzaItH9o02rgDILOpOC65ISLgQVxyBDpLTlk6Cuom8b8/s1600/sainsbury2+2_medium_res.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjO6mq1YbN8oArwXf6Ri1SkmbaNVKZRQwWvcT_bY1imEZvyQbOqDW5RlgJhi49-1UvlN7u1_OMYTukGszmFfi1GoFB9nzqBQFRRgzaItH9o02rgDILOpOC65ISLgQVxyBDpLTlk6Cuom8b8/s320/sainsbury2+2_medium_res.jpg" height="156" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">To destroy an exemplar of <br />
sustainable design best practice<br />
would be an act of vandalism<br />
that must not be permitted</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
</div>
<div class="Body" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;"></span><span style="font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;">This cannot be right.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>If
this restrictive covenant were not in place I am sure that there would be a
long list of food retailers who would be only too willing to move in and pay
the generous rents common in the sector.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>The buildings would continue to be economically sustainable, the community
would have a greater choice of where to shop and the environment would not be
impacted by the destruction of carbon intensive construction after such a
pitifully short period of time.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I feel
very passionate about this; no architect should see their work destroyed as a
result of underhand, un-democratic behaviour and not object.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The building is a good building and should
not be demolished.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It must become a test
case for the rhetoric that is now widely exposed by the sector to justify its
dominant position in the nation's food supply chain.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It is not acceptable to promise communities
sustainable development to gain planning consents simply to renege on those
undertakings when it suits.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The government
must urgently review restrictive covenant legislation to close this
anti-competition loophole to prevent more perfectly serviceable buildings being
destroyed to safeguard the self-interest of food retailers or others who would
limit the use of land or buildings that they no longer require.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>A free market must demand that this is the
case and that the local communities that grant consent must be the ultimate
arbiters of what can and cannot be done on any site.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>If not, there is a real threat that the
sector will be painted with the anti-competitive criticism that Tesco has
previously been accused of.</span></div>
<div class="Body" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Courier New;"></span> </div>
<div class="Body" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Courier New;">Please support our campaign to #stopIKEA and #SaveSainsburysGreenwich by signing our online petition at:</span></div>
<div class="Body" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Courier New;"></span> </div>
<h2 class="Body" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<a href="http://www.petitionbuzz.com/petitions/stopikea">http://www.petitionbuzz.com/petitions/stopikea</a></h2>
Paul Hinkinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07733633908103075116noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1339490184163142843.post-62537508180328367472013-10-02T17:31:00.001+01:002013-10-23T11:36:53.587+01:00Archicouture<span style="font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;">ar·chi·cou·ture<br /><br />/ˈärkiˌ/ko͞oˈto͝or/<br /> <br />Noun<br /> <br />1. The art or practice of designing and constructing buildings from the outside in. <br /><br />2. Architecture where the style and appearance of a building is of ultimate importance <br /><br />3. The creation of hollow and meaningless iconography which is ultimately inhumane and irrelevant to the concerns of our age.<br /><br />Synonyms:<br /> <br />Architecture <br />Couture<br /> </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;">While studying to be an architect I remember a lecture from
Jeremy Lowe, our History tutor, on the evolution of styles in
architecture.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It transpires that there
are three distinct stages in the evolution of any particular style.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Initially, when a new style is first
established it manifests itself in a rather crude manner.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Once people have worked out the underlying
rules and principles and mastered their application, the trues and purest
manifestation of the style emerges, often referred to as the “high” period; for
example “high gothic”.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The final phase
in the evolution of a style is characterised by pastiche as characteristics,
elements and forms become over-elaborate and exaggerated, often to the point
where the original characteristics are caricatured and become almost
unrecognisable.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;">So you may ask, what has all this “arty bollocks” got to do
with buildings, architecture and sustainability?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Well, it is my belief that we are on the
threshold of a period of rapid and revolutionary change and that when we
examine the buildings that we are making now it is clear that we are witnessing
the death of modernism, as we make way for a new sustainable architecture.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Many of the most iconic buildings realised
over the recent past are caricatures, the architectural equivalent of “gurning”,
with designers trying to outdo each other with more complex and contorted form;
with ever diminishing relevance.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Take
for example, the Olympic swimming pool, the Walkie Talkie or at a smaller scale
the ArcelorMittal <span style="mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">Orbit.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Each one invests significant money, materials
and energy to take a perverse shape which offers little or no additional value
to the user experience.</span></span></div>
<span style="font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;"></span><br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi0KoibvXmu3rsx6c5NAUUA9ruLeI2JuxKMsWrkivHx3wWz3GkR1sRHvEJN6EtD8SB97PWDcCkenrDkG_toM4gTwqW1B19bVmkccoMcTXSAtmPCXmsICCSaYWyVch0hQiw2uEPtxhri1GSm/s1600/Olympic+swimming+pool.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="191" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi0KoibvXmu3rsx6c5NAUUA9ruLeI2JuxKMsWrkivHx3wWz3GkR1sRHvEJN6EtD8SB97PWDcCkenrDkG_toM4gTwqW1B19bVmkccoMcTXSAtmPCXmsICCSaYWyVch0hQiw2uEPtxhri1GSm/s320/Olympic+swimming+pool.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;">Olympic Swimming Pool:</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;">"Would you like wedges with that"?</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span style="font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;"><span style="mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;">The swimming pool
was too small during the games, requiring two large wedges to be jammed into its
flanks to accommodate the required seating.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>While I am sure that it will win the Stirling Prize next year, because
it is so achingly beautiful, in a time of austerity, I believe that we should
demand more than dumb beauty from a public building</span> costing more than £250
million and let’s not forget that the practice pool is not even naturally lit
and the tall, arching north east and south west facades are fully glazed with
no external shading and will suffer from both excessive solar gains and thermal
losses.</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Courier New;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;">
</span><br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgSVdVYU1mXQZB7sZttQIaTSY1tL09perxW_Xnj6KSTjXfajUeWtTeR3MYLe2F6oYxTuomGy4WvW1V1W_ZI5PGywsrj-3PUmhVP0sS_voeO7pRo0zcxJizSqiIvIzE0Y8falvI8ejs3irw2/s1600/walkie+talkie.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="210" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgSVdVYU1mXQZB7sZttQIaTSY1tL09perxW_Xnj6KSTjXfajUeWtTeR3MYLe2F6oYxTuomGy4WvW1V1W_ZI5PGywsrj-3PUmhVP0sS_voeO7pRo0zcxJizSqiIvIzE0Y8falvI8ejs3irw2/s320/walkie+talkie.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;">The car melting genius of </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;">the Walkie Talkie building</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span style="font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;">The Walkie Talkie building, nearing completion in the City, is
only distinguished by is bulky deep plan and the random curves of its
facades.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>There have already been
complaints that the fully glazed, concave south elevation is causing some
unforeseen impacts on it immediate context, acting as an enormous focusing
mirror and cooking cars and people on the surrounding streets!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Just think what could have been achieved if
the manipulation of the suns energy had been part of the brief for the
development rather than an unfortunate, unintended consequence!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It could have resulted in the design of an
office tower where every desk received generous daylight, where glare was
prevented by intelligent façade design and where every occupant was within 7 metres
of a window and a view.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;"><o:p></o:p></span><br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhSok_Aw3XR7OlNUPWxcRKC84By7O4Ijh_EjUWhsznHpNAv2nG5nPQDUsVCM5Sx7-R42OAstJIMKuj-BUdWrfNlIw0Mh4Q4mFZTCD_TN6hJwlfoHXPetOWvhHwIo3AZnG-0mFs_azHGHFqe/s1600/Orbit.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhSok_Aw3XR7OlNUPWxcRKC84By7O4Ijh_EjUWhsznHpNAv2nG5nPQDUsVCM5Sx7-R42OAstJIMKuj-BUdWrfNlIw0Mh4Q4mFZTCD_TN6hJwlfoHXPetOWvhHwIo3AZnG-0mFs_azHGHFqe/s400/Orbit.jpg" width="271" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;">The contorted, "gurning" nightmare</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;"> that is the Orbit Tower</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span style="font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;">In many ways I find the Orbit Tower the most disappointing
of all; I have a great respect for the work of Anish Kapoor and the way he
combines material and form to change our perception of ourselves and the world
we inhabit.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I believe that the ability
of the artist to make people think differently about the planet and our
relationship with it is a powerful weapon in the battle to prevent climate
change.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Works like his Cloud Gate in
Chicago harness form to change the viewer’s perception of both the city and
themselves.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>However, the Orbit Tower, in
my opinion, lacks any philosophical intent and instead resorts to meaningless
shape making.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>There is an almost wilful
disregard for structural logic and materials efficiency that results in a
structure lacking in grace and elegance, looking like it is the aftermath of a
catastrophic structural failure.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Surely
not the finest work from the team at Arup’s, although it is slightly reassuring
to see that engineers are as susceptible to the cult of the meaningless icon as
architects are.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;">
</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;">So I would like to propose that we create a new category for
these stylistically driven projects, “archicouture” and let it embrace any work
that places shape making and formal gymnastics at the centre of the design
process.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Then let’s make a rule that
says, like couture in fashion, it is only acceptable for work of this type to
be undertaken for the sole use and occupation by wealthy, private clients and
that these buildings are only used by the public on a totally discretionary
basis.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Then we can focus our resources on
the development of projects that are anti-iconic and instead are focused on the
wants, needs and desires of their intended users.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We can insist that proposals are
philosophically rather than stylistically driven and that procurement processes
judge intent rather than appearance when selecting teams for all publically
accessible buildings including schools, hospitals, shops, offices and crucially
housing.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The revolution, as Billy Bragg
once said, is only a tee shirt away, so let’s make it an organic, fairtrade,
unbleached and vegetable dyed one!<o:p></o:p></span></div>
Paul Hinkinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07733633908103075116noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1339490184163142843.post-68667908191060250122013-08-13T18:14:00.001+01:002013-10-23T11:38:39.621+01:00Let There be Light<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;">Someone famous once described architecture as the manipulation of space with light and it has long been understood that daylight has a powerful effect on both our physical and mental wellbeing.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>So you would have thought that we would have reached a consensus about what represents adequate daylighting within a building and would only allow buildings that meet this standard.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Well surprisingly this is far from the case and in fact many of our most iconic offices are badly lit, hampering the effectiveness of the people forced to occupy them!</span></div>
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<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgZJE55E-6grcvqMTguqBpZ7NAYV4BsehFmO9hfAZUtZdOnSZGUNshq6NV_GNZH8XpD10XUc7QpRducizOly6C6Fc3jTEb0098nmEUel3NF_PflWIAJhiUiWi98xnA5LYPQwy92dUU0gPvR/s1600/130410+Black+CAFOD+001.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgZJE55E-6grcvqMTguqBpZ7NAYV4BsehFmO9hfAZUtZdOnSZGUNshq6NV_GNZH8XpD10XUc7QpRducizOly6C6Fc3jTEb0098nmEUel3NF_PflWIAJhiUiWi98xnA5LYPQwy92dUU0gPvR/s320/130410+Black+CAFOD+001.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;">Architecture the manipulation</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;">of space with light</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span style="font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;">It is interesting to note that while there are standards defined in the Building Regulations for most aspects of building design those relating to natural lighting are not very onerous, only requiring a bare minimum of a 2% daylight factor for 80% of the floor area.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This means that a fifth of any floorplate can be built that does not meet even this minimum standard.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In a typical city tower with a central core the area of the floor adjacent to the core and any desks in this location rely almost exclusively on artificial lighting.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;">Interestingly, the Building Research Establishment Environmental Assessment Method (BREEAM) for offices awards additional credits where 80% of the floorplate achieves a 4% daylight factor.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This is not a standard that the majority of space currently under construction is able to achieve given the excessive depth of most floorplates.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;">I was recently at a seminar where a developer was extolling the virtues of their highly sustainable new office development that had floors of between 12 and 18 metres from the window to the core!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>While as an occupant you would be aware that there was a window, it would be provide virtually no light to your workstation if you were unfortunate enough to be sat nearest to the core.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;">The issue of the depth of the plan does not only affect daylighting, but also has a major effect on the occupant’s views out.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Research has shown that a good quality view is composed of elements that are close to the window, elements in the middle ground and also parts which are more distant, but to be able to perceive the exterior to this level of detail through a window requires the viewer to be quite close.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;">Under BREEAM a maximum of distance of 7 metres from workstation to window is defined as achieving a beneficial view out and is acknowledged by awarding a credit for buildings which achieve this standard.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>If this arrangement is applied to an office floorplate with windows on both sides it would result in an overall depth of 14 metres which would also be well and evenly lit due to lighting being delivered from two sides rather than one.</span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjgh1HY6hHakwdqTvveM2Iccg8KL-RnqaPG0NX-pmm4kmY3L_cWux0QrLi7kUxiQdwHwImlNwdlHQ2F9annF0xFpNQzcE7-ULWYEFoXrd5c7NEVs_Oh-OJcS2Vfc42P4Wdo35FUJY8RZp0A/s1600/130410+Black+CAFOD+026.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjgh1HY6hHakwdqTvveM2Iccg8KL-RnqaPG0NX-pmm4kmY3L_cWux0QrLi7kUxiQdwHwImlNwdlHQ2F9annF0xFpNQzcE7-ULWYEFoXrd5c7NEVs_Oh-OJcS2Vfc42P4Wdo35FUJY8RZp0A/s320/130410+Black+CAFOD+026.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;">Careful disposition of solid and glass</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;">façade materials help prevent glare</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span style="font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;">To ensure that the workplace is comfortable it is important that glare is avoided, particularly on computer screens.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This is impossible to achieve on fully glazed facades which allow in large amounts of light but in an unregulated manner, over lighting workstations nearest to the windows but not making any significant improvement to lighting levels of the desks further into the interior.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;">Façade designs that combine solid and glazed sections can overcome this problem, particularly if the façade module is coordinated with the distance between desks.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>A solid to glass ratio of around 50/50 allows sufficient glass for views and daylighting while providing highly insulated solid sections that protect screens from glare and prevent unwanted solar gains and thermal losses.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;">It is also important where the glass is positioned as the higher the window the better the daylight distribution.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Glass below desk level provides little or no benefit to occupants and often displays just how untidy many offices are!</span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgK3W53jye_GnRVMZn31rBakTABCSVtk4xlZ3XOcmaW1r4LR8QuqFGJpQUrNgQJy0b862axQ0tmL7WNLHkyPjObSRebDyMYOKybWA56cFcgc7WplMhbfaf0-ClCWoyzKj2JmFnAyFDPz8yV/s1600/130410+Black+CAFOD+010.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgK3W53jye_GnRVMZn31rBakTABCSVtk4xlZ3XOcmaW1r4LR8QuqFGJpQUrNgQJy0b862axQ0tmL7WNLHkyPjObSRebDyMYOKybWA56cFcgc7WplMhbfaf0-ClCWoyzKj2JmFnAyFDPz8yV/s320/130410+Black+CAFOD+010.jpg" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;">External solar shading controls</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;">unwanted solar gains</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span style="font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;">The orientation of windows also has a significant effect on the comfort, or otherwise, of the people who inhabit the building.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>North facing windows allow in diffused daylight with little direct sun, so thermal gains are prevented at the expense of increased thermal losses.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Conversely, south facing glass will experience excessive solar gain and glare if adequate external shading is not incorporated.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;">However it is the east and west facades which present the greatest challenge as the sun hits these surfaces at a low angle which is hard to regulate and which can cause glare and discomfort deep within the interior.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>West facing glazing also presents issues of solar gain, delivering as it does a spike in heat at the end of the working day when the building has already been heated by equipment and people.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Buffering of west facing facades with other uses like escape stairs or toilets can protect office areas from these unwanted gains.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;">Natural lighting is an essential component of a well tempered environment and deserves careful consideration and intelligent design if it is to be delivered in a manner that enhances the perceived wellbeing of occupants, rather than causing them discomfort.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Too much or too little daylight will have direct impacts upon the productivity of occupants which can ultimately affect the productivity of an entire organisation.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;">As the great Kevin McCloud put it:</span></div>
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<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;">“Integrity and authenticity and quality and appropriateness take a little more work than simple-minded beauty”<o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;">I passionately believe that user centred design will revolutionise the design of buildings and will ultimately help to create a new sustainable architecture, in which philosophy, intent and purpose replace vacuous beauty, meaningless style and contorted form and I for one cannot wait!</span><span style="font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;"> </span><br />
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Paul Hinkinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07733633908103075116noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1339490184163142843.post-400973093469318272013-07-16T19:47:00.000+01:002013-10-23T11:39:40.431+01:00Move me Mother I’m Burning!<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;"><span style="color: white;">It seems strangely appropriate to be discussing PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) annual </span><a href="http://www.pwc.com/gx/en/sustainability/publications/low-carbon-economy-index/index.jhtml?WT.mc=LCEI-GHP" target="_blank"><span style="color: #b45f06;">"Low Carbon Economy Index"</span></a><span style="color: white;"> on 2degrees, since their key finding is that with current levels of CO2 emissions this target will not be hit and we are likely to see global temperature rises of 6°C if current emissions levels continue. To achieve the 2°C target would require cuts in carbon of 5.1% every year from now to 2050! Keeping to the 2°C carbon budget will require unprecedented and sustained reductions over four decades. PwC's assessment is that Governments’ ambitions to limit warming to 2°C appear highly unrealistic and that up to 6°C seems to be much more likely.</span></span></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: white; font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;"><img border="0" height="207" iya="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgWEgorl_kgumw1ElQg8jJtZcCKiuzolaeDmLDFvqbzij82bZGbHNVOzg7sXap1xF3EFOtXLp3DmIewUADmdgpipCaksGAMk7NYT8742HJoAI18k_-o_bzBwRktMWn_2GWM_pS9Sq9evkJj/s320/2degrees_2.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" width="320" /></span></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: white; font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace; font-size: small;">Global warming is forecast to exceed 2°C</span><br />
<span style="color: white; font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace; font-size: small;"> target and could reach up to 6°C </span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;"><span style="color: white;">To reinforce the point</span><span style="color: #b45f06;"> </span><a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2013/jul/03/unprecedented-climate-extremes-last-decade-un" target="_blank"><span style="color: #b45f06;">UN research</span></a><span style="color: white;"><span style="color: #b45f06;"> </span>has also recently been published showing that the last decade has been the hottest since records began and that this increase in temperature is accompanied by weather patterns that are becoming more extreme and unpredictable. Yet some politicians, particularly those on the right, seems to think that fracking is a good idea to address our fast approaching energy supply crisis and that yet more CO2 released into the environment will be alright: really?</span></span></div>
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<span style="color: white; font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;">So what should government be doing with this intelligence and how should policy be developed to respond to a threat of global significance? Well I would suggest that there are a number of polices that should be adopted immediately to ensure that our economy is safeguarded from these risks and is optimised to address the threats and opportunities that this environmental crisis presents.</span></div>
<span style="color: white; font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;"></span><br />
<span style="color: white; font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;">The first and most important step is to base all of our future energy policies on the fact that we have dramatically reduced demand through a comprehensive and thorough refurbishment campaign. The UK should invest in “negawatts” before it spends even a single penny on new power generation capacity.</span><br />
<span style="color: white; font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;"></span><br />
<span style="color: white; font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;">I am not saying that this is an easy or risk free strategy, but I believe that it is essential if we are to make the strategic adjustments that are required to rebalance our economy, dramatically cut our reliance on imported gas and nuclear power and create a maximum demand that can be met by renewable technologies with appropriate, intelligent power storage solutions.</span><br />
<span style="color: white; font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;"></span><br />
<span style="color: white; font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;">To achieve the refurbishment and performance upgrade of our entire existing building stock will require a paradigm shift in the property and construction industries along with a concerted and collective effort not achieved since the war. I would argue that it is far too important to be left to 5 year government terms or party politics and may even demand a new political consensus.</span><br />
<span style="color: white; font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;"></span><br />
<span style="color: white; font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;">Training will be required to create an army of highly skilled building technicians able to undertake this work of national importance; creating a valuable and productive workforce from our currently underemployed youth. The legacy of this period of national renewal will be a new model construction industry, populated by professional and highly skilled workers able to deliver new build and refurbishment projects to outstanding levels of performance.</span><br />
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<span style="color: white; font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;">But we should not stop there! As part of the revolution we should democratise and decentralise power generation by embedding localised generation throughout the country, close or better still, within existing communities. This will change occupant behaviour by making each householder or building operator a producer rather than simply a consumer and has the potential to deliver up to 30% energy savings simply by cutting out transmission losses that occur between remote power stations and the distant communities they supply.</span><br />
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<span style="color: white; font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;">This decentralised approach to power generation makes it possible to harness the waste heat that is created as part of the generation process and use it to directly heat buildings and provide hot water. To facilitate Combined Heat and Power(CHP) or better still Combined Cooling Heat and Power (CCHP) systems will require new Community Infrastructure in the form of thermal mains that will transport heat between power plants and buildings. Investment will also be required to increase thermal storage capacity to help smooth the jagged delivery of renewable solar thermal heating systems.</span><br />
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<span style="color: white; font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;">The UK has signed up to achieve an 80% reduction in CO2 emissions by 2050 yet there is still no coherent policy linking supply with demand. Time is fast running out to make the scale and magnitude of changes within our economy to meet our international commitments and even those who see nuclear power as the only answer realise that it is unlikely to be able to deliver sufficient capacity quickly enough to prevent the lights going out in the not too distant future. Urgent reduction of demand must be commenced immediately and pursued with a combination of grant “carrots” and taxation “sticks” to encourage the market to do the right thing.</span><br />
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<span style="color: white; font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;">Regulatory constraints should be developed which ensure that all new development is carbon positive by 2020 and that capitol receipts from new carbon taxation are reinvested in the refurbishment and renewal of our existing building stock, 80% of which will still be in use by 2050. We need to stop building the “Archicouture” of the past, with its obsession with style and shape making, but devoid of meaning, and instead develop a New Sustainable Architecture able to address the urgent issues of our age.</span><br />
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<span style="color: white; font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;"></span><br />Paul Hinkinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07733633908103075116noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1339490184163142843.post-72274481134884843632013-06-11T15:39:00.000+01:002013-06-11T15:39:43.895+01:00A Campaign for Real Architecture<div class="Body1" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<span style="mso-hansi-font-family: 'Arial Unicode MS';"><span style="font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;">I have long been of the opinion that we are on the threshold of a period of rapid and revolutionary change, which remains imminent, but also stubbornly illusive!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It is now over a hundred years since the birth of modernism, yet we continue to design most modern buildings in a style that has remained fundamentally unchanged over this period.</span></span></div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;">A thermally inefficient</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;"> fully glazed office facade</span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;"><span style="mso-hansi-font-family: 'Arial Unicode MS';">The fully glazed fa</span><span style="font-family: 'Arial Unicode MS'; mso-ascii-font-family: Helvetica;">ç</span><span style="mso-hansi-font-family: 'Arial Unicode MS';">ade remains the default answer for office and commercial buildings and is increasingly common in residential, hotels, schools and in fact anything that needs to be perceived by its target market as </span><span style="font-family: 'Arial Unicode MS'; mso-ascii-font-family: Helvetica;">“</span><span style="mso-hansi-font-family: 'Arial Unicode MS';">premium</span><span style="font-family: 'Arial Unicode MS'; mso-ascii-font-family: Helvetica;">”</span><span style="mso-hansi-font-family: 'Arial Unicode MS';"> or </span><span style="font-family: 'Arial Unicode MS'; mso-ascii-font-family: Helvetica;">“</span><span style="mso-hansi-font-family: 'Arial Unicode MS';">luxury</span><span style="font-family: 'Arial Unicode MS'; mso-ascii-font-family: Helvetica;">”</span><span style="mso-hansi-font-family: 'Arial Unicode MS';">.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I have even had conversations with one very </span><span style="font-family: 'Arial Unicode MS'; mso-ascii-font-family: Helvetica;">“</span><span style="mso-hansi-font-family: 'Arial Unicode MS';">blue chip</span><span style="font-family: 'Arial Unicode MS'; mso-ascii-font-family: Helvetica;">”</span><span style="mso-hansi-font-family: 'Arial Unicode MS';"> developer who insists that all their luxury housing is designed in a glass walled modern style.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;"><span style="mso-hansi-font-family: 'Arial Unicode MS';">It is almost as if the 1970</span><span style="font-family: 'Arial Unicode MS'; mso-ascii-font-family: Helvetica;">’</span><span style="mso-hansi-font-family: 'Arial Unicode MS';">s energy crisis never happened; or that the climate change deniers have actually been proven to have been right all along!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We recently passed the significant threshold of 400 parts per million level for atmospheric CO<sup>2</sup> yet still nothing changes.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>There is now a detailed body of knowledge regarding envelope performance along with the potential for passive heating, cooling lighting and ventilation, yet the tyranny of the initial dumb image persists.</span></span></div>
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<span style="mso-hansi-font-family: 'Arial Unicode MS';"><span style="font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;">To accompany this lack of any real and concerted action there seems to have been an exponential growth in the rhetoric supporting sustainable development, with professional, repeat clients all arguing that this is the future while continuing to procure buildings from the past.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Now, while I accept that buildings take a long while to come to fruition, there is no evidence that I can detect, of any real or concerted change.</span></span></div>
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<span style="mso-hansi-font-family: 'Arial Unicode MS';"><span style="font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;">So what will be that catalyst that will trigger the sustainable architecture revolution?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The first shoots may well be the proliferation of groups that promote alternative metrics to measure building projects and promote sustainable development.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>BREEAM and LEED are the most obvious of these but there is now a long and growing list including:</span></span></div>
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<span style="mso-hansi-font-family: 'Arial Unicode MS';"><span style="font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;"><a href="http://www.energysavingtrust.org.uk/">Energy Savings Trust</a></span></span></div>
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<span style="mso-hansi-font-family: 'Arial Unicode MS';"><span style="font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;"><a href="http://www.socenv.org.uk/">Society for the Environment</a></span></span></div>
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<span style="mso-hansi-font-family: 'Arial Unicode MS';"><span style="font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;"><a href="http://www.spongenet.org/">Sponge</a></span></span></div>
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<span style="mso-hansi-font-family: 'Arial Unicode MS';"><span style="font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;"><a href="http://www.usablebuildings.co.uk/">The Usable Building Trust</a></span></span></div>
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<span style="mso-hansi-font-family: 'Arial Unicode MS';"><span style="font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;"><a href="http://www.carbonbuzz.org/">Carbon Buzz</a></span></span></div>
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<span style="mso-hansi-font-family: 'Arial Unicode MS';"><span style="font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;"><a href="http://www.honestbuildings.com/">Honest Buildings</a></span></span></div>
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<span style="mso-hansi-font-family: 'Arial Unicode MS';"><span style="font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;">Recently, the <a href="http://feelinggoodfoundation.wordpress.com/2013/04/02/home/">Feeling Good Foundation</a> was established, within the Building Centre Trust,<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>to research and promote how the built environment can be designed specifically to enhance the wellbeing of occupants.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>One of the Foundations key objectives is to establish what constitutes value and what metrics should be used to measure wellbeing in the built environment.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I believe that this area represents the missing link and that once we are able to accurately assess the additional value that sustainable buildings create through improved occupant performance then we will finally be able to make a robust business case which shows a return on the investment required to deliver sustainable buildings through improved occupant productivity.</span></span></div>
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<span style="mso-hansi-font-family: 'Arial Unicode MS';"><span style="font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;">There are three areas that I believe are key to achieving the paradigm shift that is required if we are to ensure sustainable development becomes the norm.</span></span></div>
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<span style="mso-hansi-font-family: 'Arial Unicode MS';"><span style="font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;">The design process for all projects must place the wants needs and desires of building users at the heart of the process.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This will be a particular challenge for speculative developments where specific user groups are not known and is likely to drive innovation and the development of new building arrangements with more flexible and diverse spaces and environments.</span></span></div>
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<span style="mso-hansi-font-family: 'Arial Unicode MS';"><span style="font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;">One of the most intractable barriers to sustainable development is the manner in which we buy buildings.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It is essential that we move away from lowest cost tendering to procurement systems that incentivise improved performance.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>While there have been some isolated instances where this has been tested, most notably in the Building Schools for the Future programme the construction supply chain must be engaged to deliver better performing buildings and should be rewarded when this is achieved.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This would significantly change the nature of the process, placing more emphasis on design and encourage ongoing relationships between the construction industry and occupiers post completion.</span></span></div>
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<span style="mso-hansi-font-family: 'Arial Unicode MS';"><span style="font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;">It is essential that we understand how our existing building stock is performing so that investment can be targeted appropriately.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I would advocate that we should demand that all buildings must display their energy performance on a read out adjacent to the front door and that this data should be used to identify the best performing 25% of each building type with a green light, the middle 50% with an amber light and the worst 25% with a red light.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Imagine a street of houses where the good the bad and the ugly are made public; I am convinced that this really would make significant change happen extremely quickly!</span></span></div>
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<span style="mso-hansi-font-family: 'Arial Unicode MS';"><span style="font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;">There are two other factors that are required to create the necessary confidence for individuals and institutions to invest.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The Government needs to sets a clear policy framework to encourage sustainable development and then must show perseverance and not keep tinkering with it.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Unfortunately I suspect that this may be the biggest barrier of them all!</span></span></div>
<span style="font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;"></span>Paul Hinkinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07733633908103075116noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1339490184163142843.post-68650706628476552142013-05-14T10:51:00.000+01:002013-05-14T10:51:53.229+01:00Rebuilding Broken Britain<div class="MsoNormal" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;">To create enduring value within our economy I believe that we need to radically change not only the nature of the buildings that we build, but also, the way that we procure them.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>To achieve holistically sustainable buildings it is essential that the procurement process is intelligent and able to assess and reconcile the social, economic and environmental aspects of every project.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>However, this is not currently the case, as is amply demonstrated by the current fashion for meaningless architectural “iconography” being built in the City of London.</span>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi1BYsbcuFnwI7jMlHa2WftWxl7bLVmlKngOUe0o9rCfHr69i4NrohEPjPrGJQL2QjqCHKopky6yii62jyMocorKv0a4A_MCe2hjCw8VaVR8oPAgaqzXVDuJxPk3aZovPsYBHFJq363xfS2/s1600/piggy-426--131428274157868700.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; cssfloat: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="180" pua="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi1BYsbcuFnwI7jMlHa2WftWxl7bLVmlKngOUe0o9rCfHr69i4NrohEPjPrGJQL2QjqCHKopky6yii62jyMocorKv0a4A_MCe2hjCw8VaVR8oPAgaqzXVDuJxPk3aZovPsYBHFJq363xfS2/s320/piggy-426--131428274157868700.jpg" width="320" /></a><span style="font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;">These projects have all been procured by professional, repeat clients, who claim to take sustainability seriously.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>So why are they all building painfully fashionable, contorted building forms that are expensive, spatially compromised, have thermally inefficient fully glazed facades with deep plans that are impossible to daylight?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>They have no doubt been encouraged to take this path by senior planners in the City who make powerful recommendations as to which “starchitects” work they would like to see added next to the City’s architectural zoo.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I would argue that developers of these schemes have simply applied a green wrapper to their activities and continued with business as usual, rather than embedding sustainable development at the core of their activities.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;">To achieve the required paradigm shift, we need to select design team members for their demonstrable track record of innovation in the field of sustainable development.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Project specific briefs should be prepared and published that define what is to be built and what key performance indicators will be used to judge the success of completed projects.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>These indicators must include annual occupant satisfaction surveys, operational energy expenditure along with maintenance expenditure, with outcomes made publically accessible: after all, most of these buildings ultimately become assets of our pension funds!</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;">I believe that we need to arrest the decline in quality and fitness for purpose of development; where we can calculate the cost of everything but having little or no understanding of where construction creates value.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>To be relevant we must sever the link between construction output and the creation of investment assets whose value bears little or no relation to the performance of the building.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The fact that we are still debating if a “green premium” or a “brown discount” exists is powerful evidence that we are unable to effective ascribe value to the products created by our industry.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In my opinion Quantity Surveyors are obsolete and should be retrained to become Value Managers, able to orchestrate and create enduring value for clients and the wider UK economy.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This would be a good first step in redefining the why that teams interact, smashing professional silos can be and remade to encourage the sustainable outcomes that are urgently required.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;">Intelligent procurement must incorporate local procurement, so that communities that experience development receive social and economic benefit from the process.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We must stop packaging up ever larger parcels of development and instead place more, smaller, lower value contracts with locally based small and medium sized companies (SME’s) to create more jobs and spread construction expenditure more equitably throughout the UK.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Local firms who will be forced to live with the products of their labours, whereas national or international builders are far less accountable to the communities who inherit the buildings that they deliver and where the value that is created by the process benefits remote shareholders rather than communities.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;">The idea of local procurement should I believe be taken further with the construction industry supporting locally manufactured building products and materials that also create jobs and value.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This philosophy needs to be incorporated at the brief stage, requiring design and delivery teams to embrace the notion of the final building being Made in <st1:country-region w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Britain</st1:place></st1:country-region>, with public reporting of the outcome.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This initiative could drive a fundamental socio-political shift, moving away from a reliance on services to create value, restoring the balance the in the UK economy by supporting manufacturing.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;">There is a strong belief that Design & Build is the best answer for most buildings and clients.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>However, as the recession has continued to bite it is noticeable how the amount of “design” that is being undertaken by contractors has dramatically reduced.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It is essential that Project Managers undertake detailed analysis of tender returns, if clients are to get the buildings that they think that they are buying, rather than the best that the contractor can cobble together without the correct amount of timely, expert detailed design. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;">Large organisations are changing their terms and conditions, increasing the time that suppliers have to wait to be paid; contractor Carillion now expect suppliers to wait 120 days to receive payment.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This creates cash flow issues further down the supply chain and can result in small, well run companies going out of business.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Associated with this issue is the protracted nature of contractual negotiations, demands to agree to unfair and ultimately uninsurable terms and conditions, resulting in significant delay in the period from starting work to receipt of the first payment.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It is essential that the government takes urgent action to get the money moving and should start by insisting that all appointments are agreed prior to commencement and strict 30 days terms are mandatory.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;">We must increase investment in training and education to equip our workforce with the skill, knowledge and expertise required to add sustainable value, regardless of the individual’s role in the supply chain. Crucially, I believe that we need to invest in vocational training to radically improve skill levels within our sector and create a workforce who are able to deliver construction to the higher levels of performance required.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The industry must offer great career opportunities for all regardless of gender.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;">For the construction sector to once again become an engine for growth in the UK economy then investment must be focused not on iconic new build schemes but instead on the refurbishment of our existing building stock.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We urgently need to invest in improving the performance of our existing buildings now!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This will create jobs, establish the essential missing link between energy efficiency and energy supply, reduce our reliance on expensive imported energy and ultimately reduce the number and cost of the next generation of nuclear power stations that we will be forced to buy from aboard if we are to keep the lights on.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;">To rebuild broken Britain sustainably we need to radically change the things that we build, along with the ways that we procure them.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Professional boundaries need to be challenged and new bodies established.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I would argue that none of the existing professional bodies can provide the leadership needed and what we require is an Institution for Sustainable Development, open to all professions and their clients, which can effectively research, promote and lobby for change.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;">Localism should be reinterpreted to demand that the value created by development directly benefits the communities that host development, creating jobs and economic activity close to the site.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>On a national scale we should develop a new vernacular architecture using materials and products that are Made in <st1:country-region w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Britain</st1:place></st1:country-region>, including the development of upcycled products that convert waste materials into new construction products and materials.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Fundamentally we need to understand, through compulsory Display Energy Certificates (DEC), how every building in the UK is performing and then use this intelligence to guide a national refurbishment mission to dramatically improve performance.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Courier New;">This piece was first published in Sustain Magazine May/June 2013</span></div>
Paul Hinkinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07733633908103075116noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1339490184163142843.post-72999423016023330912013-04-29T17:51:00.003+01:002013-04-29T17:51:59.682+01:00Phoenix HQ - Update No. 5<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;">Another month has passed and once again it is time for the Phoenix HQ construction update.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Courier New;"></span> <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgM-3w1zwRxRFrwN5DcCSXICeMlJ0rA-nkA2Vm6lGLUViHOa-Ijv3EhERVe91CFUji0ifsD3AMFNwtvfLUbF2ffLAdTdwLjwUK4zEyBggNpWWkE8okTWN3UkC-zyE63jBOGWhala-kyhheA/s1600/L1166540.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgM-3w1zwRxRFrwN5DcCSXICeMlJ0rA-nkA2Vm6lGLUViHOa-Ijv3EhERVe91CFUji0ifsD3AMFNwtvfLUbF2ffLAdTdwLjwUK4zEyBggNpWWkE8okTWN3UkC-zyE63jBOGWhala-kyhheA/s320/L1166540.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: Courier New;">The Site </span>(26.04.2013)</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Courier New;">The most significant change that has occurred on site since the last blog post is that the Barn building's structure and SIPs are now in place. The Barn will act as a extra community space or village hall type structure and already has its first booking for a party next January.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace; font-size: x-small;">The Barn (09.04.2013)</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;">Inside the main building the north lights in the roof are now installed and boarding removed. This has transformed the first floor from a dark and slightly dank environment to a spacious space awash with a very even north light. Making what seems to me to be ideal working conditions.</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhy9TQPwy9ekyhNQWuh8cV9cLqvdvDXkV0I4CfJZmKFSyGSIsY5fcyZ7ytgkWFj9mRQ3GH1_MJpYhxNdY-UE7PCt3AjCDkrVQdRSkBtx4MsGLzKc1itaGPKTiyOJAf8yXn_qpsIMTtp1OTi/s1600/DSCN2767.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhy9TQPwy9ekyhNQWuh8cV9cLqvdvDXkV0I4CfJZmKFSyGSIsY5fcyZ7ytgkWFj9mRQ3GH1_MJpYhxNdY-UE7PCt3AjCDkrVQdRSkBtx4MsGLzKc1itaGPKTiyOJAf8yXn_qpsIMTtp1OTi/s320/DSCN2767.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace; font-size: x-small;">The north lit 1st floor (26.04.2013)</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;">The majority of the work now taking place is now the installation of Mechanical and Electrical portions of the design. The electrical trunking and trays have almost all been installed and soon we will see the exposed galvanised conduits appearing on the walls.</span> </div>
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<span style="font-family: Courier New; font-size: x-small;">The view from the entrance (09.04.2013)</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;">The other exciting thing that has has happened on the project is that on the 12th of March there was a topping out ceremony attended by representatives of both the community and the project team. </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: Courier New;">The Team</span> (26.04.2013)</span></div>
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Toby Cranehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11752062592134005508noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1339490184163142843.post-73445528780918843392013-03-18T09:41:00.002+00:002013-03-18T13:02:29.308+00:00Black Thoughts on Ecobuild<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;">Well that’s ecobuild over for another year, and I for one say good!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In many ways I think that ecobuild reflects many of the barriers that are preventing our industry delivering the step-change that is required to address the pressing issues of our age.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>As I walked around the vast, artificially conditioned interior of ExCel London what struck me most powerfully was the gap between presentation and reality.</span></div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;">Every product has</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;">In the evolution of sustainable design I believe that we have really not changed much at all; all that has changed is the words that we use to describe products and the spin that is used to emphasise their virtues.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Ecobuild is dominated by major global construction product manufacturers and suppliers all of whom have added words like “eco” or “green” to the descriptions of their products and then, in the vast majority of cases, simply continued with business as usual.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;">The high cost of exhibiting at the show prevents most small companies and start-ups from displaying their wares, so almost all of the really interesting things that one found in the early shows, back in the good old days at <st1:street w:st="on"><st1:address w:st="on">Earls Court</st1:address></st1:street>, have now disappeared.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>For me to continue to make the annual pilgrimage to the Royal Docks, this must change.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I think that as the UK’s largest construction trade show there is a responsibility incumbent upon UBM, the franchises new owners to give something back, and this should be in the form of small low or no cost stands for small and medium sized enterprises (SME’s) and start-ups.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;">As a practice, we have an initiative called Product of the Month where we ask our team to identify innovative sustainable building products and materials.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>On average we have noted that it takes at somewhere between 3 and 5 years for the products that we find to appear at ecobuild.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Clearly, this would be cut dramatically if they were able to exhibit at low or no cost.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Also, by gaining exposure sooner they are more likely to survive and thrive.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;">The international nature of the industry is reflected at ecobuild, with significant space given over to foreign firms, with a rapid growth in those coming from <st1:country-region w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">China</st1:place></st1:country-region>.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Many contractors now boast about having their own global supply chain, able to source products direct from Chinese manufacturers, cutting out the middle men.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But is this really a sustainable model for the <st1:country-region w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">UK</st1:place></st1:country-region> economy?</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;">I passionately believe that we need to rebalance our economy by growing our manufacturing sector.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This is essential if we are to create the range of jobs that we need to achieve full employment and long term social cohesion.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Construction products and materials manufactured and sourced from the <st1:country-region w:st="on">UK</st1:country-region> create jobs and ensure that value is created in the <st1:country-region w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">UK</st1:place></st1:country-region> and not aboard.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Removing long distance supply chains also delivers easy cuts in embedded carbon, which is increasingly important as we cut operational energy.</span></div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;">Glabal trade,</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;">large carbon footprint!</span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;">Local sourcing of construction labour will ensure that host communities benefit from the construction process, but I would like this principle extended.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Small and medium scale (SME) businesses create jobs locally and in greater numbers than large national or international firms.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I would like to see all state funded procurement favour local small businesses for all contracts below £5 million.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Locally designed and built projects will help reconnect the property industry with the communities that we should be serving, correcting the distortions that have occurred due to property being seen primarily as an investment asset class rather than a means of enhancing the efficiency and wellbeing of building occupiers.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;">There is a pressing need for radical change to make the construction industry relevant and capable of addressing the concerns of our age.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The future must be small, local and accountable if we are to deliver intrinsically sustainable development.</span></div>
Paul Hinkinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07733633908103075116noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1339490184163142843.post-74722005812061866582013-03-12T12:26:00.000+00:002013-03-12T12:26:51.093+00:00Phoenix HQ - Update No. 4<br />
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<span style="font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;">In the month and a half since the last <a href="http://blacktansa.blogspot.co.uk/2013/01/phoenix-sfghq-update-no-3.html">blog</a> work has
continued on the Phoenix HQ </span><span style="font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;">despite the bad weather. When the last post was written the work that was happening on site included the installation of the SIPs, the blockwork and the installation of the zinc.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;"><o:p> <span style="font-size: x-small;">Zinc Roof - </span></o:p><span style="font-size: x-small;">29.01.2013</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;">This month the zinc has been moved from the
walls to the roof so that, although no visible progress has been made for the casual passer by. The majority of the roof is now covered and work can progress on large areas of the first floor without fear of water damage.</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEilxTAPJ-9vBotw-aCx9znjb0ZFINAJnaWS8NSREwTPpTpG8FtBz0XAOMo_sM5BZcC9FXgjdx4smGQ1b7-iVacZOqAH2iQKQvDgfZCwQlqu5JwNTAgc4se9Z9qmwYDwsCJeRwfPfrIfKUPD/s1600/2013.02.28_Acoustic+Lining.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEilxTAPJ-9vBotw-aCx9znjb0ZFINAJnaWS8NSREwTPpTpG8FtBz0XAOMo_sM5BZcC9FXgjdx4smGQ1b7-iVacZOqAH2iQKQvDgfZCwQlqu5JwNTAgc4se9Z9qmwYDwsCJeRwfPfrIfKUPD/s320/2013.02.28_Acoustic+Lining.JPG" width="240" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace; font-size: x-small;">Acoustic linings on roof - 28.02.2013</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;">Where the zinc has been installed and the roof is water tight the team on site have been fixing a layer of rockwool to the internal face of the roof to create an acoustic barrier. A layer of either plasterboard or OSB is then fixed on top of this. Once these have been installed they will need to be painted before first fix begins.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Courier New; font-size: x-small;">Sample of electrical conduits - 11.02.2013</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;">In preparation of first fix commencing we have started to see samples of what the M&E sub-contractors are proposing. With the exposed blockwork and minimal finishes these are of particular importance as they will be more visible than in an ordinary building.</span></div>
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</span><span style="font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Credit Union Screed - 11.02.2013<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;">Now that the blockwork is complete on the ground floor the team have been progressing with the screed floor. So far the entirety of the screed in Phase 1 is complete and Phase 2 should have been finished in time for the next blog.</span></div>
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</span><span style="font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Breaking ground - 20.02.2013<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;">As well as exciting things happening on the inside of the main building, work has continued around the rest of the site. The work required to reinforce the rear site wall has been completed and the foundations for the Barn and Substation are now in place.</span> </div>
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<span style="font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;">By the next update the Barn's frame and SIPs will have been installed and first fix will have commenced. The internal walls will also have been painted, which means we will be able to start getting an impression of what the internal spaces will feel like.</span></div>
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<o:p><span style="font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;"> <span style="font-size: x-small;">The site - 28.02.2013</span></span></o:p></div>
Tony Duckworthhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05332115035191072624noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1339490184163142843.post-5029512245514656652013-02-11T11:40:00.000+00:002013-02-11T11:40:24.782+00:00Re-Imagining Design and Embedding Sustainability<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;">Sustainable design is something that all architects do now; right?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It’s on every practices website, included in all their presentations and has been totally integrated into the way all buildings are designed.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Even the RIBA is now belatedly “on message”, promoting the idea that buildings should be designed to be sustainable.</span></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi4kiJN-9msakrN2BcP-ddKDdw2UBN5crPEI61YAf6hZTJLPqMen0QJ9O_lrSYX6-1qrIarRqGw0KIShcXZIUpyCMUJ5zeXmBbPlQ1ioTLKgkjfAFlFz9jX5BiB7_FMZKDaPOBNFCz8W0X7/s1600/Mies+Skyscraper.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; cssfloat: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi4kiJN-9msakrN2BcP-ddKDdw2UBN5crPEI61YAf6hZTJLPqMen0QJ9O_lrSYX6-1qrIarRqGw0KIShcXZIUpyCMUJ5zeXmBbPlQ1ioTLKgkjfAFlFz9jX5BiB7_FMZKDaPOBNFCz8W0X7/s320/Mies+Skyscraper.jpg" uea="true" width="223" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 10pt;">Mies van der Rohe glass </span></span><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 10pt;">skyscraper</span></span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 10pt;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;"> concept designed in 1919<o:p></o:p></span></span></span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;">So, how come the buildings that we are constructing now have not changed significantly since the birth of modernism almost one hundred years ago?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Mies van der Rohe published his revolutionary concept for a glass clad skyscraper back in 1921 and you could argue that we have been repeating this typology, with only minor amendments, ever since.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Is the Shard not just a less efficient more compromised variant of this underlying philosophical position?</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;">What has changed is the rhetoric that accompanies each of these increasingly contorted iconic projects; all of which claim to be exemplars of sustainable development.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Clearly, it is not only architects who are guilty of not walking the talk when it comes to sustainability; developers, funding institutions, governments and local authorities are all rebranding their particular form of “business as usual” in a new recycled paper wrapper!</span></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjJ4gp4UM_yyKtY5NZcm8DmUBGoXIOqoLwDiS7wqE14YlyXjf_GvQpBaJ4ZXYUx6r_k5HL7r4-6rpKZfzwLwuna0WE0KxvrRIskvyFqXDQDE_VbmLUuP-DTsEhGTf2vpaikHBQp3fsfOm28/s1600/The+Shard.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; cssfloat: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjJ4gp4UM_yyKtY5NZcm8DmUBGoXIOqoLwDiS7wqE14YlyXjf_GvQpBaJ4ZXYUx6r_k5HL7r4-6rpKZfzwLwuna0WE0KxvrRIskvyFqXDQDE_VbmLUuP-DTsEhGTf2vpaikHBQp3fsfOm28/s320/The+Shard.jpg" uea="true" width="222" /></a></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace; font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 10pt;">Renzo Piano all glass</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 10pt;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;"> Shard nearing completion 2013<o:p></o:p></span></span></span></div>
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<o:p><span style="font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;"> </span></o:p><span style="font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;">It is my strongly held belief that this incremental improvement approach is no longer sufficient and what is required is a fundamental reappraisal of why, what and how we build.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In short, I believe that we are about to enter a period of rapid and revolutionary change that will result in re-imagining design and the development of an entirely new Sustainable Architecture, shaped by an understanding of the challenges that we face and therefore directly relevant to the concerns of our age.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;">To achieve the necessary paradigm shift we must challenge some deeply ingrained behaviours and beliefs and fundamentally re-evaluate the reasons why we build at all. This process must start by placing social sustainability and needs of building users at the heart of the design process.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It is no surprise that the best examples of sustainable design are conceived when the building’s users are known before design commences.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Also the greatest value that a building design can create is not in energy savings but in helping to improve the productivity of the people who work in them.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>To achieve this added value it is essential that buildings are designed from the inside and the needs of the user out.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This philosophical approach creates massive opportunities for creativity and innovation, once the dead hand of style is rejected, in favour of a new sustainable building aesthetic where each design decision is directly informed by its social, economic and environmental issues.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;">Our CAFOD project, that I will be presenting at the UKGBC’s Re-Imagining Design course on the 27<sup>th</sup> February, is a good example of this approach.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The key aspect of the project’s evolution was that we did not win the commission with an image of a completed building, but instead explained how we would assist them, as a non-expert client, to develop a bespoke; user centred sustainable solution, shaped to fit their immediate needs and facilitate organisational change.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 10pt;">Black </span></span><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 10pt;">Bio Climatic </span></span><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 10pt;">office</span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 10pt;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;"> tower concept 2005<o:p></o:p></span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;">This approach is in stark contrast to the vast majority of speculative commercial buildings, which are conceived primarily as investment assets and whose appearance and architectural style are determined at inception.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This procurement process, I would argue, results in the current fashion for more and more contorted building forms, as design teams strive to make the most remarkable, arresting images, rather than the most sustainable designs, to secure commissions.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;">If we are to make the <st1:country-region w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">UK</st1:place></st1:country-region>’s building stock more sustainable I believe it is essential that funding institutions only agree to invest our pension contributions into demonstrably sustainable buildings.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This will change overnight what gets commissioned, since developers want to be able to sell their completed developments so that they can reinvest profits into the next development opportunity.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It will also result in less risk and more predictable returns for the funds, since sustainable buildings will either command a “green premium” because they are more desirable or at worst will not experience a “brown discount” due to their increased occupation costs.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;">In re-imagining design I believe that we need to place social sustainability at the heart of the design process, with the explicit intention of delivering buildings that create value by demonstrably improving the performance of the people who occupy them. This philosophical shift will finally close the cost benefit gap that makes investing in higher performance difficult to justify.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Over time the quality and value of the <st1:country-region w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">UK</st1:place></st1:country-region>’s building stock will increase, creating value and safe guarding the investments that ultimately fund our retirement.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>A paradigm shift of this magnitude will create a New Sustainable Architecture that is relevant and valuable.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>As Mies van der Rohe put so succinctly;</span></div>
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<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;">“Architecture is the will of an epoch translated into space”<o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;">Surely the will of our epoch calls for urgent, radical change; re-imagining design to deliver buildings that create enduring value for the people who use them, the organisations that own them and the society that they are part of.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: FormataBQ-Light; font-size: 12pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;">Don’t delay, the future starts today!</span></span>Paul Hinkinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07733633908103075116noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1339490184163142843.post-81489368893326619502013-01-17T09:29:00.000+00:002013-01-17T12:25:07.866+00:00Phoenix HQ Update No. 3<span style="font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;"></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;">There have been
significant advances on site since the </span><span style="color: blue; font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;"><a href="http://blacktansa.blogspot.co.uk/2012/11/phoenix-hq-november-update.html" target="_blank">last blog</a></span><span style="font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;"> on the 30th of November last year. At that point Phase I (the first half of the main building) of the frame
and SIPs were on the brink of completion and we were expecting Phase II of the frame and the interior blockwork to
commence imminently. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace; font-size: x-small;">Site on the 12.12.2012</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;">As of the 12th December Phase II of the composite timber frame and steel deck had been completed and for the first time it was possible to see the overall scale of the building. Since then a number of different trades have been able to operate concurrently on site, which has seen the speed of the construction
process gain momentum. Over the last month work has been progressing on:</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;">1. The frame - The weather (bar the cold) has been kind to us and Phase II of the frame has continued on schedule and is now almost complete. All the wall and roof panels are in place and only the framing of the feature window is outstanding.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace; font-size: x-small;">Installation of the roof SIPs</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;">2. Internal Blockwork - The blockwork has been moving ahead in the interior of the completed sections of the frame. As the blockwork will remain exposed with only a painted finish in all the public areas, a lot of attention has gone into its detailing.</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiDclc6bxFMOzkE7a8N0a_ZtuHgCol5qtSSVnx5gNEavVI5_KDgEKxEIubxZAFqFHZoEgxweA5hXr-9gXHjur4KJGX3AOiVaNs_AA1-2GLSVDwFe06OAlHtXJVNoXXBLKjXtpmU7yqkYD2l/s1600/P1150938.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiDclc6bxFMOzkE7a8N0a_ZtuHgCol5qtSSVnx5gNEavVI5_KDgEKxEIubxZAFqFHZoEgxweA5hXr-9gXHjur4KJGX3AOiVaNs_AA1-2GLSVDwFe06OAlHtXJVNoXXBLKjXtpmU7yqkYD2l/s320/P1150938.JPG" width="240" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace; font-size: x-small;">Blockwork under construction</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;">3. Zinc Cladding - The exterior of the first floor on Phase I of the frame has been sheathed in plywood. In the last week and a half the installation of the zinc, which will eventually clad the entirety of the first floor has commenced. This is very exciting as it is the first of the final finishes that we have been able to see on site.</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgBnaq3QU8GhlvAOLmaQ0acg5yARHeAvXeQ_sLwbd0hxglVGySxA6KxHRb0N7H85fkDCHCKRUaCgI0lOfASO7tsAqx5nzmXf7cROe1Cd2fRV_JGWEPAiXOzuIRJQ0kxHCI95dF01XBPyznk/s1600/P1150941.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgBnaq3QU8GhlvAOLmaQ0acg5yARHeAvXeQ_sLwbd0hxglVGySxA6KxHRb0N7H85fkDCHCKRUaCgI0lOfASO7tsAqx5nzmXf7cROe1Cd2fRV_JGWEPAiXOzuIRJQ0kxHCI95dF01XBPyznk/s320/P1150941.JPG" width="240" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Zinc being installed</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;">As the current trades progress on site the current goal is to complete the installation of the zinc and get the building watertight so that the next major milestone can be reached when the ground floor screed is poured.</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjtCBSaoWQ43ILaKV90AZl7EnlNHsmm3lWDj3pDYTgze0aOnpFo6KiGDIFA8lnX9LW0cypZqFFCqVelS4SL_DYC8z1um1AK2qTVNjG4FZtiKLS-6wVY0H41VKJw6Hdl-xwNyaewf_ogwvka/s1600/DSCN2531.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjtCBSaoWQ43ILaKV90AZl7EnlNHsmm3lWDj3pDYTgze0aOnpFo6KiGDIFA8lnX9LW0cypZqFFCqVelS4SL_DYC8z1um1AK2qTVNjG4FZtiKLS-6wVY0H41VKJw6Hdl-xwNyaewf_ogwvka/s400/DSCN2531.JPG" width="400" /></span></a></div>
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<o:p><span style="font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Site on the 16.01.2013</span></span></o:p></div>
Tony Duckworthhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05332115035191072624noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1339490184163142843.post-58707550270337627862012-11-30T18:25:00.001+00:002012-11-30T18:31:05.081+00:00Phoenix HQ November Update<br />
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<span style="font-family: Courier;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;">This is the second of an
on-going series of blogs that aim to create a photographic log of the
construction process at the Phoenix HQ.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Courier;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;">At
the end of October<span style="background-color: black; color: #999999;"> </span></span></span><span style="font-family: Courier;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;"><span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: #cccccc;"><a href="http://blacktansa.blogspot.co.uk/2012/11/phoenix-community-housing-hq-underway.html">(click here to view previous blog)</a></span></span></span></span><span style="font-family: Courier;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;"><span style="background-color: black;"> </span>a couple of bays had been erected and we could
look forward to the completion of the first half of the frame by the end of the
month. </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Courier;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;"><strong></strong></span></span><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgou0dtHtQZQi4-e1bMTXROpyGCIm5dI7BcQW8dw50gDMNPjYmSGKfdRXJwXaMYwLXBV7LxR_h9mI9ECcOtrm4Of0zbAi70BBLNl-aQ2ceKVdGcto5sO1C9W90iSDquHm8St3qWcAtesJyv/s1600/2012.01.11_Photo+1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgou0dtHtQZQi4-e1bMTXROpyGCIm5dI7BcQW8dw50gDMNPjYmSGKfdRXJwXaMYwLXBV7LxR_h9mI9ECcOtrm4Of0zbAi70BBLNl-aQ2ceKVdGcto5sO1C9W90iSDquHm8St3qWcAtesJyv/s320/2012.01.11_Photo+1.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Courier;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;">Site visit 01.11.2012</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Courier;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;">When we next returned to
site at the beginning of the month the first half of the composite frame had
been erected and the construction team were starting preparation for the first
floor’s metal deck to be laid.</span></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj9qJH5fvTvAANM2MHQxc8m7N8FREHiohE_3_5pyaaQ5sU59CSEvprmwuSEtkuqvhNSfSMUz8YKtm3N8PIyVh72UbQ98Gu7Z9gofWCFLDT1w7Mea_cyoJUNFWZeQpxkpPYuOIh0uUAm2GhQ/s1600/2012.11.08_Photo+1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj9qJH5fvTvAANM2MHQxc8m7N8FREHiohE_3_5pyaaQ5sU59CSEvprmwuSEtkuqvhNSfSMUz8YKtm3N8PIyVh72UbQ98Gu7Z9gofWCFLDT1w7Mea_cyoJUNFWZeQpxkpPYuOIh0uUAm2GhQ/s320/2012.11.08_Photo+1.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Courier;"><span style="color: black;"><o:p></o:p></span></span><span style="font-family: Courier New;">Site visit 08.11.2012</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Courier;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;">One week later the metal
deck was down, and for the first time we were able to gain access to the first
floor. At this point the scale of the spaces had started to become more apparent
and we were able to envisage how it will feel when the building is in use.</span></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiegWvKTGJIyt8jX6f_tu8tRFkejI2yzBR08cGdK7S3JwbRrfI0BfK8CEIPvQEhTKFFRFRPsXYi6O57cksljDbIcrfVbrQ3QRbddClTYUExMVRWxdqxzMIWf13ufQMC3nItbbgYPnbjkEz3/s1600/2012.11.22_Photo+3.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiegWvKTGJIyt8jX6f_tu8tRFkejI2yzBR08cGdK7S3JwbRrfI0BfK8CEIPvQEhTKFFRFRPsXYi6O57cksljDbIcrfVbrQ3QRbddClTYUExMVRWxdqxzMIWf13ufQMC3nItbbgYPnbjkEz3/s320/2012.11.22_Photo+3.jpg" width="320" /></a> </div>
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<span style="font-family: Courier;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;">Site visit 20.11.2012 </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Courier;"></span> </div>
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<span style="font-family: Courier;"><span style="font-family: Courier;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;">After a two week absence from site the concrete for first floor slab had been laid and work is currently progressing with attaching the SIPs to the composite frame, although there have been some delays due to high winds.</span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Courier;"><span style="font-family: Courier;"></span></span> </div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjOIf1VMAEC6iszrjhjUaC3D2Tn2rwojWkHKuqGK-Pq7ZugG3AdM9ET-zvNmgSLuaeIXzEN-W4qlRTPLnDjKdSYDpDuCS4Vsy282-KMDbucC4l6LVT2bpkXwxoCR3xclMLYpBQsfvJhucmI/s1600/2012.11.22_Photo+4.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjOIf1VMAEC6iszrjhjUaC3D2Tn2rwojWkHKuqGK-Pq7ZugG3AdM9ET-zvNmgSLuaeIXzEN-W4qlRTPLnDjKdSYDpDuCS4Vsy282-KMDbucC4l6LVT2bpkXwxoCR3xclMLYpBQsfvJhucmI/s320/2012.11.22_Photo+4.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Courier New;">Site visit 22.11.2012</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Courier;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;">Phase II of the frame
started on the 26<sup><span style="font-size: x-small;">th</span></sup> of November and will be complete within the next
3 weeks, when the overall mass of the building should become clearly visible.
Concurrent with this, the blockwork is due to commence on the ground floor any
day now and the layout of the public spaces and lift shafts will start to take shape. This should all be complete by the 6<sup><span style="font-size: x-small;">th</span></sup> of January when first <span style="font-family: Courier;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;">fix is due to commence.</span></span></span></span> </div>
Tony Duckworthhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05332115035191072624noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1339490184163142843.post-89936369204612615592012-11-15T15:52:00.001+00:002012-11-15T15:52:56.687+00:00BRE Select Black for Innovative 1960’s Office Refurb Study<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;">Black Architecture has been selected to partner with the Building Research Establishment (BRE) on their innovative refurbishment of a 1960’s office building project.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This project is intended to research strategies for the comprehensive refurbishment of buildings of this type.</span></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEitMOD_8GAmn7dwzw5MfUtYUeSdna6a-DfSqVFiJCgFi8U_OvkdyLz4MdtJILyNbltZMIqAJLksPaj6Sr09EMxgq9Tek7Ny3hEv-dGc4XwHqs7hqogS6tLZXM20oDy7lqi5Z18EOdbSoyxe/s1600/P1020857.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; cssfloat: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="300" rea="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEitMOD_8GAmn7dwzw5MfUtYUeSdna6a-DfSqVFiJCgFi8U_OvkdyLz4MdtJILyNbltZMIqAJLksPaj6Sr09EMxgq9Tek7Ny3hEv-dGc4XwHqs7hqogS6tLZXM20oDy7lqi5Z18EOdbSoyxe/s400/P1020857.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;">BRE Building 14</span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;">The post war economic boom of the 1960’s and 70’s led to a considerable increase in the number of non-domestic buildings across the UK, including public sector, commercial, health and educational facilities.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Buildings constructed during this period make up around 15% of <st1:city w:st="on">London</st1:city>’s current offices and over 40% of the <st1:country-region w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">UK</st1:place></st1:country-region>’s higher education building stock.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;">They are typically poorly-insulated, using external cladding systems featuring large areas of single glazing, asbestos-containing insulation and other elements, are difficult to heat in winter and prone to summertime overheating, use inefficient air conditioning systems, have high energy costs and large carbon footprints. Users and occupiers experience stress caused by thermal discomfort, patients in healthcare buildings of</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;">that era recover more slowly, and students find it harder to learn. Fifty years on, these challenges translate into complex and costly refurbishment projects, including the challenge of extra costs incurred in relocating tenants, and the disruption to the operations of the building. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Replacement of external cladding systems is considered difficult and expensive, offering no gain in internal</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;">space so no increase in value, despite being the most important intervention from the energy efficiency point of view.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;">However, retrofitting and refurbishing commercial properties can offer significant advantages compared to building new: building programme benefits (with up to 70% time saving), with improved rental and yield values at a lower cost capital investment and retention of tenants.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;">Aim of the project</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;">We want to demonstrate through this project that if refurbishments of 1960s and 70s non-domestic buildings are approached strategically and the whole supply chain is involved from inception, risks can be minimised, energy saved and profitability enhanced, with minimal disruptions to the operations in the building and without extra capital costs compared to standard comprehensive refurbishments.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;">What we plan to do</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;">Built in 1964 with a host of problems typical of the buildings from this era , Building 14 at BRE overheats, uses an exorbitant amount of energy, emits 42 tonnes CO2/year , has a crumbling façade and as such it is an ideal candidate for a strategic sustainable makeover.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;">It will be used as the physical demonstrator for a research and testing programme allowing refurbishment options to be valuated in a controlled environment. The key output from the project will be a performance specification / ‘balanced scorecard’ (strategic planning and management system), with the potential to be rolled out large scale to similar buildings.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;">This will deliver:</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;">1.<span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>Exceptional sustainability and energy efficiency improvements (including 80% reductions in energy use, compliance with BREEAM Refurbishment and other recognised standards) with no increase in capital cost investments compared to standard comprehensive refurbishments;</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;">2.<span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>Drastic reductions in operational and embodied carbon;</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;">3.<span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>Improved indoor environment, including better air quality and thermal comfort;</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;">4.<span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>Exemplar project, construction and procurement efficiency with minimal disruption to the day-to-day activities in the building.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;">BRE Building 14 has been chosen because its design and</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;">construction are typical of many other buildings from the period.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It is prominent within the BRE campus, close to main reception and the <st1:place w:st="on"><st1:placename w:st="on">Innovation</st1:placename> <st1:placetype w:st="on">Park</st1:placetype></st1:place>, giving good visitor access and making it ideal for demonstration. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It is currently an extremely inefficient building, with an EPC rating of E, therefore offering much scope for improvement.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;">The building will be a live demonstrator of innovative technologies for the commercial refurbishment sector, which will be updated as new products become available on the market (parallel to the BRE Victorian Terrace domestic refurbishment project). The building will provide new accommodation that will be used as exhibition space open to <st1:place w:st="on"><st1:placename w:st="on">Innovation</st1:placename> <st1:placetype w:st="on">Park</st1:placetype></st1:place> visitors, business incubator space for start-up companies, office, meeting and seminar areas. A programme of dissemination and promotion will follow completion. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This project will lead the way and influence the thinking of private and public bodies to change and embrace best practice, while happening right at the heart of the Government’s Green Deal implementation programme, and as such will receive extensive media coverage and public interest.</span></div>
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<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiNb2M_QYoi1mHKAnfobBQsSL1GFiN6Q5v7I9XopGCsX1zuBO4U0Y7hJn5cUO6EbRTvKy-viEJCrk3FlzXzZ8Jq6LsjPwIIzycYmfB4qCBIlvLC1VsYHWdg5B5QcehLygwqwzw6c7DBycWW/s1600/0387_2012.11.08_front.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; cssfloat: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="256" rea="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiNb2M_QYoi1mHKAnfobBQsSL1GFiN6Q5v7I9XopGCsX1zuBO4U0Y7hJn5cUO6EbRTvKy-viEJCrk3FlzXzZ8Jq6LsjPwIIzycYmfB4qCBIlvLC1VsYHWdg5B5QcehLygwqwzw6c7DBycWW/s400/0387_2012.11.08_front.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;">BRE Building 14 refurbishement study</span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;">Paul Hinkin managing Director of Black Architecture believes that the project is of strategic significance:</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;">“it is essential that the UK’s aged building stock is retained and made fit for purpose and this project will help to define best practice standards to achieve the highest levels of performance at the best value.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>What is most exciting about this project is that it is intended not to be just a demonstration project but to provide a repeatable model that can be rolled out.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We are delighted to be working with the BRE on this pioneering project.”</span></div>
<span style="font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;"></span>Paul Hinkinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07733633908103075116noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1339490184163142843.post-46673595303475533202012-11-02T10:30:00.001+00:002012-11-30T18:29:07.401+00:00Phoenix Community Housing HQ Underway<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;">From this month forward we will be posting monthly updates on the progression of </span><a href="http://blacktansa.blogspot.co.uk/2011_06_19_archive.html"><span style="font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;">Phoenix HQ</span></a><span style="font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;"> as it is constructed. Since the last blog the project has been through planning and Osborne has been appointed as the contractor. The updates will aim give a visual log of the projects construction process.</span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjhdnGK5LWyEP-R_1e3ils2jPc6NLdAN-LoLHPWwEx_QznBqa-DJJItCt3x5PJctoWqYu5DysN8ptY7w-qkwWoBwkIYpm9XLRkHal3ds9hyphenhyphenINqfMeozDi6AyqjrYIvq-mU_NXWvmtkve8vw/s1600/2+-+Site+-+Demolished.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; cssfloat: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="200" qea="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjhdnGK5LWyEP-R_1e3ils2jPc6NLdAN-LoLHPWwEx_QznBqa-DJJItCt3x5PJctoWqYu5DysN8ptY7w-qkwWoBwkIYpm9XLRkHal3ds9hyphenhyphenINqfMeozDi6AyqjrYIvq-mU_NXWvmtkve8vw/s200/2+-+Site+-+Demolished.jpg" width="200" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;">Ground floor slab cast</span></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgyh-axZBF5i8SvB_WgdATZ-jbD-qmBPWU2Gr-6MmrWWGF9Jqdq_cebTInWmtRWjIEwM_1gCq6XEB_5bcB-Q4VKIQ7XZFkyO3rBGiMN5xyAgYwyA7FgQjHOCdbp2rWYQAn-pM2zkMEsLbye/s1600/1+-+Site+-+Demolished..jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgyh-axZBF5i8SvB_WgdATZ-jbD-qmBPWU2Gr-6MmrWWGF9Jqdq_cebTInWmtRWjIEwM_1gCq6XEB_5bcB-Q4VKIQ7XZFkyO3rBGiMN5xyAgYwyA7FgQjHOCdbp2rWYQAn-pM2zkMEsLbye/s200/1+-+Site+-+Demolished..jpg" width="200" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;">Site being prepared for </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;">foundations</span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;">By the beginning of the month the Greenman Pub had been demolished and the site cleared. During the first and second weeks the foundations and slab were laid out and completed.</span></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjKzUDuVdCL1NmTav40Z5gXuGpH5fXCxcpGbgxl1jpGs0kmARq6YqEqxgXxC8WdslbC0iShFyDSPBCB5MLR6lvhBGRSB_PgN5-pDhWk8f4f8FyAcVmJKyTpuH_QKbQNeyZOFRXWKbr-mpL8/s1600/3+-+Factory-1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; cssfloat: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="200" qea="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjKzUDuVdCL1NmTav40Z5gXuGpH5fXCxcpGbgxl1jpGs0kmARq6YqEqxgXxC8WdslbC0iShFyDSPBCB5MLR6lvhBGRSB_PgN5-pDhWk8f4f8FyAcVmJKyTpuH_QKbQNeyZOFRXWKbr-mpL8/s200/3+-+Factory-1.jpg" width="200" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;">Glulam frame manufactured</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;">in Austria</span></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh_c0OCbgifkH8o57L0EumsHHbrPpgSsoCTYwc13yafPURYZX17bprAEaMT9pkHyX1wO4BlOVDceH-QDyR3V3vtCIo-Qvu52KpPqOpMjxYlxCNJab9J6fLhD9WXYVrHt4izgnQQ5GBE6w_G/s1600/4+-+Factory-2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; cssfloat: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="200" qea="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh_c0OCbgifkH8o57L0EumsHHbrPpgSsoCTYwc13yafPURYZX17bprAEaMT9pkHyX1wO4BlOVDceH-QDyR3V3vtCIo-Qvu52KpPqOpMjxYlxCNJab9J6fLhD9WXYVrHt4izgnQQ5GBE6w_G/s200/4+-+Factory-2.jpg" width="200" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;">Hockey stick beams</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;">ready for delivery</span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;">Whilst this process was occurring on site in the UK, B&K Structures had the timber frame manufactured by Kaufman in Austria.</span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhEJlnVZ3zGkYJPjJkrMsCr_TAhRz7vbktPwrvPh-06jB8ko0DXJWIKelktVR8t2WA4KfgajdBWXA-HfNgOykSBYwQC_ZXq-w-eCOgEa20GGk-XcBlhKYJn1YsoAzaqhlhKTI7wnAyVL84I/s1600/5+-+Frame+1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; cssfloat: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="200" qea="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhEJlnVZ3zGkYJPjJkrMsCr_TAhRz7vbktPwrvPh-06jB8ko0DXJWIKelktVR8t2WA4KfgajdBWXA-HfNgOykSBYwQC_ZXq-w-eCOgEa20GGk-XcBlhKYJn1YsoAzaqhlhKTI7wnAyVL84I/s200/5+-+Frame+1.jpg" width="200" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;">Frame erection</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;">commenced on site</span></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj2cQq9lG3_Y1ulyGm4mJ1RjCGeqNZ_TmK0KXOCdx8Jto_pL4-szylIeJ0bUUEFjmBGbJke2DUuzPQ_l8LgmwaPrIG1nZdcHl-l7KUJhIjlPyJH_EDOPbAAd50Uuv770JaNZbXa2kMHihjb/s1600/6+-+Frame+2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; cssfloat: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="200" qea="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj2cQq9lG3_Y1ulyGm4mJ1RjCGeqNZ_TmK0KXOCdx8Jto_pL4-szylIeJ0bUUEFjmBGbJke2DUuzPQ_l8LgmwaPrIG1nZdcHl-l7KUJhIjlPyJH_EDOPbAAd50Uuv770JaNZbXa2kMHihjb/s200/6+-+Frame+2.jpg" width="200" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;">First structural bay</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Courier New;">nearing completion</span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;">The frame arrived on site on the 22<sup>nd</sup> of the month and the team on site immediately started erection.</span></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiaRPm2T_7ch3vNQQDXdOU8mLkqFv5MqAgaPS1iZnW1gqshhVv3O9PXV81PmpLbXxSQXmDArDGL-eMY-c5lk_IQH1fHzkbpeNvXbrGqB29AnSAjm9NMyYaonBeLbWzuwKxaZRCkKM8RBkOi/s1600/7+-+Frame+3.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;"><img border="0" height="298" qea="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiaRPm2T_7ch3vNQQDXdOU8mLkqFv5MqAgaPS1iZnW1gqshhVv3O9PXV81PmpLbXxSQXmDArDGL-eMY-c5lk_IQH1fHzkbpeNvXbrGqB29AnSAjm9NMyYaonBeLbWzuwKxaZRCkKM8RBkOi/s400/7+-+Frame+3.jpg" width="400" /></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;">The view of the site from the Bromley Road</span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;">The completion of Phase 1 of the composite timber frame will be Monday 5<sup>th</sup> of November and Osbourne will start laying the concrete deck immediately. The SIPS panels are due to arrive on site by the 12<sup>th</sup> of November.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The installation of the SIPs is due to take 2 weeks so that by the time of the next update, Phase 2 of the structure will have commenced.</span></div>
Paul Hinkinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07733633908103075116noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1339490184163142843.post-53815125554105629522012-10-04T18:24:00.000+01:002012-10-04T18:24:39.148+01:00BOB 3: Ethical + Fiscal = Inevitable<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;">A group of carefully selected building industry leaders recently gathered for the latest Breakfast on Black held at The Fire Station in <st1:city w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Waterloo</st1:place></st1:city>.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>After a hearty breakfast guests were treated to an informative and challenging presentation from Richard Francis, Director of Sustainability at Gardiner and Theobald.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;">Richard Francis</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;">Director of Sustainability</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;">Richard’s presentation “Ethical + Fiscal = Inevitable” was delivered with his trademark combination of transatlantic easy style and powerful analysis of the challenges facing the construction industry.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>His presentation was split into four sections coving both the immediate drivers for change along with those that he has identified as looming just beyond the horizon.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He neatly summarises the journey ahead as the progression from beauty pageant to talent show, illustrating the need for evidence based decision making along with more intelligent procurement.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;">Richard started by identifying the proliferation in regulations that are being developed to try to achieve more sustainable outcomes.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He made the point that when looked at as a whole there are some key facts that can be identified; that the direction of regulation is to encourage disclosure which leads to transparency and that transparency is essential to allow a market to be created.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;">The market that is emerging is characterised by wider choice, with smarter occupiers demanding shorter leases and more flexibility.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He posed the question as to why the property industry insists on using outdated names like “landlord” and “tenant” rather than “supplier” and “customer”; questioning if changing names would help to encourage improved quality and higher standards of aftercare.</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjsJTaN4xU3pbRybubDGUw6aja4oC-t8xQv64e2F3aQGtlqewqIpOnFtmQqAuJpNXlTrrh5C0bT7c6roJsAVEP4ILZSf3lRc0MiYmrNurLrjd44W8a9B0DsOAebw2_HP0EZX_uCrz5R0Gzh/s1600/Picture1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; cssfloat: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="260" mea="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjsJTaN4xU3pbRybubDGUw6aja4oC-t8xQv64e2F3aQGtlqewqIpOnFtmQqAuJpNXlTrrh5C0bT7c6roJsAVEP4ILZSf3lRc0MiYmrNurLrjd44W8a9B0DsOAebw2_HP0EZX_uCrz5R0Gzh/s400/Picture1.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;">He reviewed the current state of the market and identified that there has been a dramatic growth in the amount of available second hand property on the market which has increased from about 3 million square feet in 2000 to over 13 million square feet by 2011.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;">When investors, developers and occupiers are asked to identify the drivers that they believe will lead to property becoming obsolete in the next 5 years, they all identify energy efficiency as either the first or second most likely cause.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;">Richard characterised the market as in a state of rapid and multifaceted change, with buildings increasingly being judged on how they perform, with savvy occupiers scrutinising certifications like BREEAM and LEED assessments and demanding evidence that actual performance in use is as predicted before they are willing to sign-up.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He sees a growing trend that is moving away from simply quantifying cost to growing importance placed on assessing value.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;">He illustrated this trend with the fact that 10 years ago it was hard to define, measure or value green buildings, but that over this period specialist knowledge relating to sustainability has become more generally accepted and that this has lead to a transformation of the market as a whole.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He illustrated this point with a quote from Jones Lang Lasalle 2011 Perspectives on Sustainability report:</span></div>
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<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;">“Five years ago, a corporate real estate executive might have thought sustainability was a costly way to make the company look good to employees. Two years ago, that same executive probably focused on energy management as a way to save money in the short run. Today, he or she may be pursuing green strategies that enhance employee productivity”.<o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;">For most companies, property costs are normally amoungst their top three highest costs, along with those associated with employing their personnel.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In striving for value it is essential that the effect that building design has on occupant behaviour is more deeply understood.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Richard made the powerful point that people are the crucial, but until now overlooked, economic component of sustainability.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;">He reinforced this with the 90% rule; namely that 90% of most organisations environmental impacts come from property occupation, that 90% of most individuals working life is spent indoors and that 90% of whole life costs can be directly attributed to their personnel.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;">When senior executives are asked about the relationship between productivity and sustainability over <sup>2</sup>/<sub>3</sub> of respondents expect more sustainable buildings to facilitate their people being more productive, and that these productivity gains represent the largest potential economic benefit that sustainable buildings can deliver.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;">While Richard acknowledged that the notion of sustainable buildings commanding a premium is difficult to prove, there is he contends a growing body of evidence that this may be the case.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He presented data drawn for the <st1:country -region="-region" w:st="on">UK</st1:country>, Europe and the <st1:country -region="-region" w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">US</st1:place></st1:country> which quantified this “green premium” at somewhere between 3 and 8%.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He also explored the notion of a “brown discount” where poorly performing stock is financially penalised by the market; demonstrating that increased energy costs could account for as much as £3.00 per square foot.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;">He posed the question if this approach were applied to occupant productivity what would that do to the value of the best and worst performing examples?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>As CBRE identified in their 2011 publication "Sustainability the Great Differentiator", a 10% increase in performance could easily equate to added values equilivalant in many cases to an organisations total rent.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Richard went on to highlight that total staffing costs equate to 10 times total property costs (design, build, operate and maintain) for a building with a typical 30 year lifecycle. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;">Richard concluded his presentation with his take on what the future may look like. He challenged the way buildings are valued, based on historic performance and taking little or no account of performance in use or wider sustainability issues.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He expressed his opinion that due diligence processes are being adopted by many larger occupiers to properly assess buildings and that this approach provide a good indication of the likely direction of travel of the industry as a whole.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;">He explored the subliminal messages that property performance conveys about brands and how this association is likely to drive increasing demands for higher performing buildings that reflect wider brand values.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He asked why should customers trust companies who cannot manage their assets and people well and by implication why should they be trusted with our resources?</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;">In thinking about what a brands building says about the way they value their people Richard made the connection between a commitment to sustainability and the ability to build loyalty, engagement, efficiency and pride among its workforce.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>As Richard put it:</span></div>
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<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;">“if you think it is just about the building, you are missing a giant opportunity”<o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;">He finished off his inspirational presentation with a checklist of key actions that should be adopted to ensure more sustainable outcomes:</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;"><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman';"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">•<span style="font: 7pt 'Times New Roman';"> </span></span></span>Recognise the importance of performance </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;"><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman';"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">•<span style="font: 7pt 'Times New Roman';"> </span></span></span>Understand the limitations of existing standards</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;"><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman';"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">•<span style="font: 7pt 'Times New Roman';"> </span></span></span>Think beyond compliance</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;"><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman';"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">•<span style="font: 7pt 'Times New Roman';"> </span></span></span>Understand how buildings enhance mission</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;"><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman';"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">•<span style="font: 7pt 'Times New Roman';"> </span></span></span>Anticipate change by reverting to principles</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;">I am left thinking that there is a serious disconnect in the property industry that is directly created in the way that buildings are viewed primarily as investment vehicles and not great place for people to inhabit.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;">You would have thought that risk averse property investment funds would attach enhanced value to lower risk, more sustainable buildings, however to date this has not been the case.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Similarly, occupiers must demand buildings that can demonstrate that they have been conceived specifically to enhance occupant performance.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Finally, developers must select design teams who can demonstrate that they approach their work from a “user centred” philosophical perspective.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div>
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Paul Hinkinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07733633908103075116noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1339490184163142843.post-80032456797937869242012-09-24T13:16:00.000+01:002012-09-24T13:16:01.910+01:00Sustainable Retail; The Customer is King!<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiqGcbj990rYQEEeI6xO-EmUvRw8uGYZGTescWcZw011TdSeq8_53OwpU2tauIytiyQStOmckV8_GV_KBsL5n8eRMr96Ezlm8pIt0AMYhM5FoYoQcBCNd6-ufNWbRBZ4_ndKCQ57crFSZaR/s1600/Sainsburys+Greenwich.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; cssfloat: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" hea="true" height="258" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiqGcbj990rYQEEeI6xO-EmUvRw8uGYZGTescWcZw011TdSeq8_53OwpU2tauIytiyQStOmckV8_GV_KBsL5n8eRMr96Ezlm8pIt0AMYhM5FoYoQcBCNd6-ufNWbRBZ4_ndKCQ57crFSZaR/s320/Sainsburys+Greenwich.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;">Sanisburys Greenwich the first </span><br />
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<span style="mso-hansi-font-family: 'Arial Unicode MS';"><span style="font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;">It has been over twelve years since the first sustainable retail building was opened by Sainsbury's on the Greenwich Peninsula.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>So you would imagine that the knowledge base has developed significantly over this period and that we are now producing much better more holistic solutions right?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Well, unfortunately I am not sure that this is the case!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>You<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>see, the problem I would argue, is that we have fairly spectacularly missed the point when it come to designing sustainable buildings for the retail sector.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Rather than starting with the needs, wants and desires of the customer almost all of the developments have focused on energy efficiency to the virtual exclusion of anything else.</span></span></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjidf2-sLVC44lmGJAu6RmSNlXnU7Ly83ueniZe4gJDJfVIME_oZrc-DXz8a252FYyIaVPvmdoz4N4qbdymsr2rm3IpTip8a6znsDvn8DEhpoDWKxYkNDe92JWXwjzOWtMrvf5vg_EIaU6q/s1600/boroughmarket.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; cssfloat: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" hea="true" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjidf2-sLVC44lmGJAu6RmSNlXnU7Ly83ueniZe4gJDJfVIME_oZrc-DXz8a252FYyIaVPvmdoz4N4qbdymsr2rm3IpTip8a6znsDvn8DEhpoDWKxYkNDe92JWXwjzOWtMrvf5vg_EIaU6q/s320/boroughmarket.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;">Borough covered market</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Courier New;">is flooded with natural light</span><br />
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<span style="mso-hansi-font-family: 'Arial Unicode MS';"><span style="font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;">So why, if the retailers mantra is "the customer is king" has this not been the starting point for redesigning the buildings that we would like them to use, enjoy and want to come back to?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I believe that this is caused by a fundamental disconnect between the shop keepers and the teams that deliver their buildings.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Rather than understanding what the client really needs to drive sales, the process has been dumbed down to a repeater process that reduces risk but ultimately delivers an end result that is far from the optimum.</span></span></div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;">Natural lighting at</span><br />
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<span style="mso-hansi-font-family: 'Arial Unicode MS';"><span style="font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;">A good illustration of this point is the reintroduction of daylight into the sales floor.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>At Greenwich we used a north light roof that not only provides light but also reconnected the interior of the store with the wider environment; creating a more comfortable, less claustrophobic environment, conceived to encourage customers to dwell longer and spend more.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Subsequent buildings have used light pipes to deliver the daylight, but with none of the other customer benefits.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="mso-hansi-font-family: 'Arial Unicode MS';"><span style="font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;">Customer Centered Design<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="mso-hansi-font-family: 'Arial Unicode MS';"><span style="font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;">Customer centered retail design should offer the most comfort benefits to the customer using the least energy and materials necessary to satisfy their needs.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This would mean that all stores would be heated and if really necessary, cooled using underfloor systems, rather than blowing warm and cool air down into the occupied zone, because humans experience discomfort when heated from above.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This arrangement has the associated benefit that only the volume of the store nearest the floor that customers inhabit is conditioned.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Temperatures above the first two metres can be allowed to fluctuate more widely since nobody experiences them.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhViUkxlRhTeBuZJo4-fpDeFRaeZvAc68_lQKwUs-DML60Kw9JYjJlhA8TuvaNBaM4fbWgFL8MPTpScMFyX31TcvldFZgYH5e0pE5kbEBRCQpkCObYFw8F1rsikuh6A7Tkqh0YGycQW-J4Q/s1600/B%2526Q+New+Malden+Interior.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; cssfloat: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" hea="true" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhViUkxlRhTeBuZJo4-fpDeFRaeZvAc68_lQKwUs-DML60Kw9JYjJlhA8TuvaNBaM4fbWgFL8MPTpScMFyX31TcvldFZgYH5e0pE5kbEBRCQpkCObYFw8F1rsikuh6A7Tkqh0YGycQW-J4Q/s320/B%2526Q+New+Malden+Interior.jpg" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;">B&Q New Malden</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;"> North light roof</span><br />
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<span style="mso-hansi-font-family: 'Arial Unicode MS';"><span style="font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;">Providing appropriate fresh air is also an important factor in creating a well tempered customer environment.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It is important that fresh air is delivered directly to the place where customers are, near the floor, rather than blowing it down onto them from above.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The reason for this is simple, all of the warm, moist, stale air that we exhale floats up and settles in a soggy, smelly layer against the ceiling.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>When fresh air is blown down from above it has to pass through this layer where it enevitably mixes, resulting in a mixture of fresh and stale air being delivered!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Many high quality office environments use displacement ventilation delivered through grills in the floor and similar systems have been trialled in retail environments but have not yet been widely adopted.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;">Customers visiting</span><br />
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<span style="mso-hansi-font-family: 'Arial Unicode MS';"><span style="font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;">Customers love natually lit retail environments; think of covered markets and arcades and you conjure up a picture of fresh abundant produce and upmarket boutique shops with beautifully lit produce.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>So why is it that black box stores with little or no natural light has become the norm?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The argument made is that natural light is hard to control and can wash out display lighting.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Amazingly, galleries manage to light priceless works of art this way, we just need to try a little harder.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>One of the other challenges that natural lighting poses is that the windows in the roof need to face north if overheating is to be avoided.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Sites do not always make it easy to orientate the roof in the correct direction and this has led to the increasing use of lightpipes as they do not require specific orientation.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This is in my opinion an over reaction and we need to develop innovative solutions to overcome what are realitively easy problems to solve.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;"><span style="mso-hansi-font-family: 'Arial Unicode MS';">Once we have created the optimum internal environment for our customers it is important that energy losses through the envelope are kept to an absolute minimum.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It really suprises me that buildings are still being built to Building Regulations minimum standards.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Insulation is relatively cheap and is much easier to install during construction than at some point during the life of the building.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I can see no reason why you would not install the maximum amount of insulation to futureproof the finished building, aiming to achieve a u value of between 0.1 to 0.15 W/m</span><sup>2</sup><span style="mso-hansi-font-family: 'Arial Unicode MS';">K and carefully detail the junctions to ensure infiltration rates are less than 0.15 m</span><sup>3</sup><span style="mso-hansi-font-family: 'Arial Unicode MS';">/( m</span><sup>2</sup>.<span style="mso-hansi-font-family: 'Arial Unicode MS';">hr) @50Pa. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;">Simple lightweight timber frame</span></td></tr>
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<span style="mso-hansi-font-family: 'Arial Unicode MS';"><span style="font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;">Operation V Embodied Energy<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="mso-hansi-font-family: 'Arial Unicode MS';"><span style="font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;">As buildings are designed to be more energy efficient the balance between operational energy and embodied energy shifts, placing more emphasis on the energy that is embodied in the materials used to construct the buildings.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This has led to a move away from steel and concrete to wood alternatives.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>While this is to be encouraged, because timber locks in carbon, we do not currently grow enough of the stuff to satisfy demand.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>A number of projects are making big sustainability claims based on the fact that they use a lot of wood and therefore sequester large amounts of carbon.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>If you are building in Scandinavia where wood is plentiful this is not such an issue, however in Britian we do not produce much and it will be difficult to significantly increase production.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I believe that we should be designing hi tech timber structures that use our precious locally grown timber as efficiently as possible.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Through careful design and specification this approach will encourage investment in UK forestery and help to develop the UK timber industry. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="mso-hansi-font-family: 'Arial Unicode MS';"><span style="font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;">Made in Britian<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;"><span style="mso-hansi-font-family: 'Arial Unicode MS';">I believe that the continuing concern regarding the state of the UK economy, coupled with growing emphasis on the carbon footprint of the materials, will see a drive towards the use of more locally produced building materials.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This is likely to result in buildings specifically designed to be </span><span style="font-family: 'Arial Unicode MS'; mso-ascii-font-family: Helvetica;">“</span><span style="mso-hansi-font-family: 'Arial Unicode MS';">Made in Britian</span><span style="font-family: 'Arial Unicode MS'; mso-ascii-font-family: Helvetica;">”</span><span style="mso-hansi-font-family: 'Arial Unicode MS';"> using local materials and components to reduce their total embodied carbon, create jobs and help to grow the UK</span><span style="font-family: 'Arial Unicode MS'; mso-ascii-font-family: Helvetica;">’</span><span style="mso-hansi-font-family: 'Arial Unicode MS';">s building products industries.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;">Neptune Point Harrow</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;">retail led mixed use development</span></td></tr>
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<span style="mso-hansi-font-family: 'Arial Unicode MS';"><span style="font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;">Retail led Mixed Use Development<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="mso-hansi-font-family: 'Arial Unicode MS';"><span style="font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;">To support our ailing High Streets it is essential that new development is sensitively located to provide retail anchors that will attract customers to these under pressure locations and encourage linked shopping trips.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I believe that all new retail development should be designed to make the most of valuable urban land and to do this, high density mixed use schemes will become the norm.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This will not only ensure economic sustainability by incorporating residential uses above retail, it will help to increase the number of residents in the area who will patronise not only the stores that they live above, but also their adjoining local High Street.</span></span></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgs2ilnVHlxP7Lr4Mlxh-zOsTz8NoP3MNv_LhF1_-KxVQvTqwdNOsab7RO_Jo-vNTjrm2JULWgvCdvZ1GAQhpjOd54CQOAJ5gucpWHFS-T5Nb9P0fQkrbFsT0CQI_yzHOqU6nR2IIXPmNj4/s1600/waitrose+cookery+school.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; cssfloat: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" hea="true" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgs2ilnVHlxP7Lr4Mlxh-zOsTz8NoP3MNv_LhF1_-KxVQvTqwdNOsab7RO_Jo-vNTjrm2JULWgvCdvZ1GAQhpjOd54CQOAJ5gucpWHFS-T5Nb9P0fQkrbFsT0CQI_yzHOqU6nR2IIXPmNj4/s320/waitrose+cookery+school.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;">Waitrose cookery school may </span><br />
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<span style="mso-hansi-font-family: 'Arial Unicode MS';"><span style="font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;">Experiential Retailing<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="mso-hansi-font-family: 'Arial Unicode MS';"><span style="font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;">The trend for creating more experiential retail environments has been developing for over a decade now, but has yet to really influence the design of most stores.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But, with the rapid growth in online retail and the inevitable impact that it is having on physical store takings there is a growing need for stores to offer more than simply selling products if they are to arrest the growth in virtual shopping.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I believe that we will see more retail stores incorporating environments where customers can actually try out products and learn new skills.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Imagine the Jamie Oliver healthy eating academy, attached to your local store, teaching customers how to cook and eat more healthy food.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>At your local B&Q store you will be able to try new tools before you buy, learn skills from local tradesmen and even take a taster course run by the local further eduction college before signing up for full time study.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Incorporating educational facilities within retail environment will provide tangible benefits to the local communities that they serve and for early adoptors will dramatically change customer perception of their brands.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="mso-hansi-font-family: 'Arial Unicode MS';"><span style="font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;">A New Sustainable Retail Architecture<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;"><span style="mso-hansi-font-family: 'Arial Unicode MS';">It is now over a decade since Sainsbury</span><span style="font-family: 'Arial Unicode MS'; mso-ascii-font-family: Helvetica;">’</span><span style="mso-hansi-font-family: 'Arial Unicode MS';">s at Greenwich, the worlds first sustainable retail building opened and it is, in my biased opinion, still yet to be supassed.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In these recessionary times it is essential that the sustainable stores of the future must utilise customer focused design to deliver enduring value by making customers feel comfortable, relaxed and more likely to stay and spend.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Every material and component must be selected to provide optimum performance with the minimum carbon footprint and material miles.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Social sustainability will I believe be of increasing importance and will result in new and innovative uses being incorporated into stores, providing customers and their families with education and training opportunities.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>All of the social and economic benefits must be achieved with either neutral or ideally beneficial impacts upon the environment.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I am firmly of the opinion that holistic sustainability will be the key driver that will drive innovation and this will revolutionise store architecture.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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Paul Hinkinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07733633908103075116noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1339490184163142843.post-49533856373425305552012-07-10T18:26:00.000+01:002012-07-10T18:26:09.452+01:00Breakfast on Black 2: It’s All About the People Stupid!<span style="font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;"> <div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;">The latest in our Breakfast on Black events took place last Friday, attended by an invited group of industry leaders with a passion for sustainable development.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Our speaker this time was Miles Keeping, Head of Responsible Property Investment at Drivers Jonas Deloitte.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Miles’ presentation focused on where value is created in sustainable development, focusing on the human factors and the role that buildings have on the productivity of their inhabitants.</span></div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;">Miles Keeping</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;">Head of Responsible Property Investment</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;">Drivers Jonas Deloitte</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;">Miles kicked of by reviewing the plethora of legislation that has been passed to encourage energy savings in pursuit of the government’s target of an 80% reduction in carbon dioxide emissions by 2050.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Buildings, both new and existing are a key sector as they currently account for about a third of the UK’s total emissions, but as Miles pointed out there have been some very mixed messages coming from the coalition government around encouraging sustainable development.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He highlighted the weakening of the stance taken by HM Treasury, including the heavy cuts made to feed-in tariff’s and blocking the roll-out of Display Energy Certificates(DEC’s).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>If as promised this is to be the most sustainable government ever then they have a pretty strange way of showing it!</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;">He went on to explore occupier’s attitudes to sustainability, identifying that most large companies report on sustainability and that this has historically been driven by a range of different motives including:</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;"><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: "Lucida Grande"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Lucida Grande";"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">1<span style="font: 7pt "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span>Increased regulation</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;"><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: "Lucida Grande"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Lucida Grande";"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">2<span style="font: 7pt "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span>Stakeholder pressure</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;"><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: "Lucida Grande"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Lucida Grande";"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">3<span style="font: 7pt "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span>Brand strength</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;"><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: "Lucida Grande"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Lucida Grande";"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">4<span style="font: 7pt "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span>Cost savings</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;"><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: "Lucida Grande"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Lucida Grande";"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">5<span style="font: 7pt "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span>Reporting and disclosure</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;">In Miles’ opinion one of the most powerful drivers for occupiers to choose sustainable buildings is risk mitigation, whether that is from increasing energy cost, impact upon their brands from undesirable media coverage, or direct threats to continuity of trade caused by the impacts of climate change.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;">He also identified a perceived link between buildings that fall into this category and increased productivity, but acknowledged that the evidence required to substantiate this claim is not yet available.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I find this surprising, as there is research dating back to the 1990’s undertaken at Cardiff University which quantified a 16% reduction in absenteeism in low energy buildings when compared to air conditioned examples in similar locations.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This is an area where our industry needs to undertake urgent research if we are to be able to prove the business case for sustainable development.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;">Miles showed an interesting diagram showing the different factors of sustainable design, starting with location as the most important factor and moving out to water, waste and energy efficiency.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>For me what was most telling about this diagram was that if you discount location as often being predetermined, then the most important factors are design quality, occupier satisfaction, spatial efficiency, flexibility and adaptability.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>These are all architectural concerns and they have the largest impact on the sustainability of the completed building.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This highlights the critical importance of user centred design and the significant but often poorly addressed issues around the relationship between people who occupy buildings and the design philosophy that informs their creation.</span></div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;">Diagram of the factors</span><span style="font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;"> that</span><span style="font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;"> influence</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;">There is some strong evidence produced by the British Council of Offices (BCO) which demonstrates that occupiers see factors including energy performance and associated costs as factors which will be of growing importance over the next 10-20 years.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In reviewing this data, Miles also identified that this study showed that low or zero carbon buildings will be areas to experience significant growth.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>What is most interesting is that there is no mention of the effects that building design has on the productivity of occupants.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Is this because occupiers do not see this as relevant, or as I would suggest, that they simply were not asked?</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;">What is clear, is that if tenants prefer sustainable buildings, then these buildings are de-risked, making them safer investments and potentially worth more.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The perception in the market, is that sustainable buildings offer greater resilience, are more effective and can offer organisations a competitive advantage.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>There is a growing belief that there may be a “green premium” and that this may also accelerate the rate of obsolescence of older, poorer performing stock.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In combination these two factors may have a dramatic affect as investors move away from the old towards the new.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Miles highlighted this trend with research from The Netherlands on the value of energy labels in the European office market that shows a rapid divergence between the value of green index and non-green index buildings.</span></div>
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</span><span style="font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;">In conclusion Miles stated that there is increasingly compelling evidence to support a value shift in favour of more sustainable buildings and that this is associated with a perceived increase in risk associated with older, poorly performing stock.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He posed the question “when will productivity become a valuation issue” and stated that there is still a lack of reliable data to prove the link between building design and productivity and that this is a real problem.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I was left with the feeling that so far the industry has delivered only minor energy improvements and that these have been achieved by increasing cost.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The crucial next phase is that we need to demonstrate how sustainability adds real and enduring value and this is all about the productivity of the people who occupy our buildings; or put another way, it is all about the people, stupid!</span>Paul Hinkinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07733633908103075116noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1339490184163142843.post-8319854875560355732012-06-15T11:39:00.001+01:002012-06-15T11:39:23.042+01:00Renzo and His Piano<div class="MsoNormal" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;">Razia and Renzo at RIBA</span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;">The evening at the RIBA began well last night as Angela Brady the President making a slip of the tongue and introducing him as “Renzo and his Piano”!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>What followed was the first in a series of interviews conducted by Razia Iqbal to be broadcast on the BBC World Service under the title of </span><a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p00tjz3x"><span style="color: purple; font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;">Dream Builders</span></a><span style="font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;">. </span><span style="font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;">The extended interview format was split into sections with questions from the audience after each section.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This led to a rather fragmented event lasting almost two hours, which never really got to the heart of what makes Renzo Piano tick.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;">The first section and recurrent theme of the evening was The Shard, with a short film exploring the building and interview with the buildings developer client Irvine Sellar. He told us that when first approached to design a tower, Piano was reticent about undertaking the commission as he thinks that they are usually “phallic and undemocratic”!</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;">The interview that followed set the tone for the evening, with Razia asking a series of not too taxing questions and then allowing Renzo to provide long, poetic, but rather thin answers.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We learned that he thinks natural light is good, lightness a virtue, machines are sexy and transparency essential.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>A lot was made of The Shard being a “vertical village” incorporating retail, office, restaurants, hotel and residential uses, along with a public viewing gallery and topped with <city w:st="on"><place w:st="on">London</place></city>’s highest meditation space, which can also cater for up to forty well heeled private function guests.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;">Piano described the scheme with lyrical prose, as being highly democratic, making a significant contribution to the urban environment and how the words “civic” and “civilised” are virtually the same in Italian.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I am not sure how democratic luxury shops, restaurants and hotels really are, but swanky flats and offices definitely are not!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Sure, it is great to get elevated views over a city from a public viewing gallery, but this can often be experienced by the punter as a long, segregated queue in uninviting left over spaces that are kept out of sight of the beautiful people who the building is really designed for.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;">Sustainability was briefly touched on, with the justification of the all glass façade being that it is triple glazed, with interstitial blinds that automatically close when the sun hits the various splinters that form the envelope.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Piano talked about lightness of the construction but this was really about the visual lightness of the façade than the actual weight and related embodied energy of the structure, made with an enormous amount of concrete.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He claimed that The Shard is the most sustainable tower in the world but did not back up this audacious claim with any evidence.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I was left with the impression that, as with so much in architecture at present, you must tick the sustainability box, but there is no need to let it interfere with how the building is designed.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;">Following on from The Shard the discussions became more philosophical, with Renzo talking about the size of his organisation and the way they approach their work.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Interestingly he does not see big as beautiful and has imposed a limit of one hundred people so that he can oversee, but not control the output of his office.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;">Images of his breathtaking studio, situated on a cliff overlooking the sea outside <city w:st="on"><place w:st="on">Genoa</place></city> appeared on the big screen, along with pictures showing the great man at the helm of his luxury yacht Kirribilli, creating a picture of someone with a very pleasant, if rather suburban lifestyle.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;">Richard Rogers was in the audience and it occurred to me that in both his work and the way he organises his practice he is much more engaged with the urban realm.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><city w:st="on">Rogers</city> work in cities has built upon the ideas behind The Pompidou Centre or as Piano and <city w:st="on"><place w:st="on">Rogers</place></city> refer to it Beaubourg, while Piano’s later works are more aloof, read as objects rather than integrated pieces of the city. When asked if they were to collaborate on another project in the future, what they would like to do, Piano suggested a tower, which <place w:st="on"><city w:st="on">Rogers</city></place> discounted, instead suggesting a Piazza.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;">After the event I was left thinking that The Shard was a bit of a missed opportunity.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In theory the mix of uses, the context of the site and its adjacency to a major transport hub and the size of the budget should have delivered something remarkable, but this opportunity is I believe frustrated by the tyranny of the image and iconography of the shard as an idea.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;">I am left with many questions.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Why are all of the different uses treated with the same elevational response?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>What richness would have been created if the programme had been made apparent on the exterior?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>How could solar aspect and orientation have informed the design of each of the surfaces?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Is a narrow tapering form really the most appropriate shape to try to fit such a wide range of different user groups and activities within?</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;">I have always had a great respect for the work of The Renzo Piano Workshop and their approach, creating intelligent, beautifully crafted, simple elegant modern architecture.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Their <place w:st="on"><placename w:st="on">Menil</placename> <placename w:st="on">Collection and Jean Marie Tjibaou Cultural Centre are highlights, shaped to respond to and manipulate the external environment to condition and regulate the interior, adopting bio-climatic design principles that directly govern the appearance of the completed buildings.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It would have been great if this approach had been taken in <city w:st="on"><place w:st="on">London</place></city>, then we really would have had a relevant, provocative addition to our city.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div>
<span style="font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;"></span>Paul Hinkinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07733633908103075116noreply@blogger.com0