The first seminar of the NLA series of Projects in Practice looked into the approaches of environmental design used to reduce carbon emissions.

It explored two exemplar London projects that show best practice in re-use, low carbon materials and sustainable design.

16 Chart Street is the redevelopment of an existing 1930s warehouse building into a sustainable and collaborative workspace. The project demonstrates a commitment to retrofit and reuse, with the development seeking to retain as much of the existing building fabric as possible. To increase the building’s area a new roof and side extension have been added using structural timber. The timber acts as a natural carbon store and allowing for an efficient construction process, the use of exposed structural timber has significantly reduced the carbon cost of the project.

Institute of Physics is a highly sustainable building which acts as a ‘living lab’ to showcase physics and innovative technology. The buildings’ green roof SUDS supports sustainable urban drainage preventing water pollution and flooding. Parts of the demolition, including the windows were donated to a local hostel and the Community Wood Recycling social enterprise scheme. The concrete is certified BES6001 Excellent for its responsible sourcing just two miles away from the site. An integrated approach to sustainability includes the bore hole cooling piles, PVs, blue and green roofs, and free cooling ventilation strategy.

Programme:

Welcome from Chair
Peter Murray, Curator-in-Chief, New London Architecture

Project 1: 16 Chart Street

Overall design approaches
Mark Tillett, Director, Heyne Tillett Steel

Structural Frame Options and the Use of Timber
Andrew Howe, Associate Director, Heyne Tillett Steel

Calculating the Embodied Carbon and the Whole Life Carbon
Laura Batty, Senior Technical Research Engineer, Heyne Tillett Steel

Project 2: Institute of Physics

Overall design approaches
Harish Ratna, Director, TateHindle

Bringing Down Demand: Fabric
John Edmondson, Associate Director, Aecom

Panel discussion

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