gcp's Oxfordshire Passivhaus project is progressing well as the insulated concrete formwork heads towards completion. This innovative construction method involves building a 'stay-in-place' two panel formwork out of expanded polystyrene (EPS). The panels are held together with a web system made of 100% recycled materials and formwork is stacked, reinforced with steel and then filled with concrete.
Benefits of this system for Passivhaus design include cold bridging elimination and an airtight structure, which enables the home to be ventilated more efficiently. For our client, their home will be highly energy efficient, draft proof, acoustically insulated, safe and secure, durable and low maintenance.
More Award Nominations for J3
J3 has been shortlisted as a finalist in the Royal Town Planning Institute Planning Excellence Awards for 2015 (national award). It has been shortlisted in the category of Excellence in Planning for Community and Well-Being. See RTPI website for more details.
See here details of our J3 submission and the competition we are up against.
The Awards Ceremony held on Monday 6 July 2015 at the prestigious Pullman London, St Pancras.
Funding secured for North Bristol Health Project Development
Working alongside Vivid Regeneration gcp have helped secure funding for the next stage of design development for a new Health and Wellbeing Centre in Lawrence Weston, Bristol. The funding from the Homes and Communities Agency HCA has facilitated the preparation of a detailed planning application. The planning application scheme will be the result of extensive stakeholder and community consultation.
Skyhigh views for new homes in South Bristol
Torpoint Road is a 71 home housing scheme for Knightstone Housing Association in South Bristol which gcp are helping Kier Living deliver. This aerial video commissioned by Kier Living shows off the complex, steeply sloping nature of the site in all its glory. The project is due to complete towards the end of 2015.
gcp are also delighted to have been selected for Knightstone Housing's Architects framework.
Revitalising a tired 1960's Office Block
Revitalising a tired 1960s office block
gcp has been working hard to bring Bristol Water's 1960s headquarters into the twenty-first century, creating a modern working environment fit for a major utility.
A year on from the energy saving over-cladding contract, the shell of a new build extension has just been completed and the final phase of work has now begun, which involves the internal Category A refurbishment and fit-out of the entire building.
Improving the airtightness of the aluminium windows has been the most noticeable improvement so far, but the improved thermal performance achieved by over-cladding and re-roofing is reaping benefits in reduced running costs.
Replacing mechanical systems during the final phase will lead to further economies, yet the proof of the pudding will be in the heat load reduction when energy monitoring is evaluated post completion.
The scheme targets BREEAM 'Very Good' and has been accepted as a pilot project under the BRE's new Non-Domestic Refurbishment standard. The ability to track energy usage at three stages of the build; pre refurbishment, post fabric enhancement and post refurbishment, should provide invaluable data.
Bristol to get a new 'green' business park by 2015
gcp are playing a key role in delivering the first major component of the Knowle West Regeneration Framework vision for South Bristol. The scheme is being built by Midas Construction with funding from Bristol City Council, Homes & Communities Agency and the European Union (ERDF). The scheme provides a new business park on the site of a former aircraft hangar with completion in early 2015.
Filwood 'Green' Business Park will be an incubation unit for start-up businesses. The scheme is designed to encourage a diverse mix of tenants to offer opportunity for the 'cross-fertilisation' of ideas and will comprises a number of workshops, offices and 'Work Hub' area (B1 uses), providing around 3700m² of net lettable employment space.
gcp will help deliver innovations including:
- a project score of BREEAM 'Outstanding'
- a 20% reduction in carbon dioxide emissions through renewables
- bio-diverse green roofs
- the promotion of the schemes green credentials through innovative use of sustainable façade materials
- the protection and enhancement of the existing wetlands for use by building occupants and the community
In true collaborative style, the project requires design and construction team to use BIM Level 2, a government requirement for all publically funded projects from 2016.
Four new Passivhaus projects for gcp
Designing economical, low energy buildings is a specific area of our expertise. gcp director Colin Powell has been exploring the PassivHaus approach with many potenital clients as the best way for designing a building to have very small energy bills. Over the past year gcp have used PassivHaus to model benefits of low energy / low carbon buildings for a range of clients:
- Jephson Housing are using gcp to develop a scheme of 8 homes for elderly people as a show-case PassivHaus development in Swindon.
- Knightstone Housing Association engaged gcp's PassivHaus expertise to model carbon reduction and demonstrate the potential of PassivHaus to deliver low carbon homes that exceed Bristol City Council Planning Department's carbon reduction requirements without renewables, at their major development at Torpoint Road in South Bristol. gcp are now providing the detailed design for Kier Construction for the on site phase
- gcp are working with Halsall Construction to deliver a major PassivHaus development of 25 homes for Hastoe Housing Association in Somerset.
- gcp have gained planning permission for a 2000 sq ft private PassivHaus home in Oxfordshire (featured in the image above).
gcp Certified PassivHaus Designer Colin Powell says..
'As the benefits of PassivHaus become understood we think more clients will see this as the best way of creating high quality low energy and low carbon buildings - we are doing everything we can to ensure we are able to support clients and contractor partners with knowledge and practical advice.'
New Health and Wellbeing Centre for Lawrence Weston
gcp have collaborated with Vivid Regeneration to prepare a high level business plan for Ambition Lawrence Weston.
The plan proposes a new Health and Wellbeing Centre for Lawrence Weston, Bristol including a GP surgery, council contact point, small library, screening centre and other health services.
The Lawrence Weston Health and Wellbeing Centre is born out of dedicated grass routes work produced for the Lawrence Weston Community Plan by local people with support from the Big Local. The BIG Local is lottery funded initiative to support local people have an active voice in community planning.
Welcome new starters
Welcome new starters
To coincide with new offices, we have three new team members:
Imogen Hunt joined us full time as Project Architect in July, bringing with her a wealth of experience in residential and retail/commercial development.
Trainee Architectural Technician James Pilling joined us in August with 6 years of construction site experience under his belt.
Our latest Project Architect and experienced BIM recruit Cerianne Thorneycroft joined us in September.
Locality Brokers call on gcp for support
gcp are supporting Locality Brokers with a programme of learning for community groups who want to transform buildings for local benefit. gcp director Jonathan Platt is presenting one of 6 webinars structured to explore the key issues involved in developing a community building.
Jonathan will explore the relationship between a business plan and the building design. In addition to the webinar Jonathan will present a seminar at Trinity Arts Centre in Bristol on May 15th 2014, one of gcp's recently complete projects, to further explore the relationship between building design and managing a phased investment plan.
To listen to this webinar now, click here.
Masters for Michael
Keen to further his knowledge, Michael Hanson has completed an MSc in Environmental Design of Buildings, with Distinction. His dissertation titled "The risk and reward of implementing zero carbon retrofit to UK dwellings" studied specific implemented retrofit measures and analysed the outcomes for the legacy building stock.
Thanks to Michael's hard work, gcp can now provide expertise and environmental condition monitoring of buildings via the Association of Energy Conscious Builders AECB.
Junction 3 wins an 'Oscar' and Residential Development of the Year
Junction 3 has won the Bronze award for 'Best Mixed Use Development'in the UK at the 'Oscars' of the house-building industry, the What House? Awards 2013.
Within the same few weeks, J3 was also awarded 'Residential Development of the Year' at the South West Insider Property Awards 2013.
Insider said that the scheme:
'has provided a creative solution to a problem site in inner city Bristol. Delivered within its £10.4m budget, it has been the culmination of ten years' partnership working with Bristol City Council.'
Our relationship with Knightstone Housing Association continues as we are named the preferred teamfor The Carriageworks Project in Stokes Croft. See: The Carriageworks Action Group website for more information.
Call for action: Part L amendments now revealed
Part L of the Building Regulations covers the conservation of fuel and power in buildings.
In order to avoid more onerous requirements, your project will need to begin on site before 6th April 2014, or be subject to a building notice, full plans application or initial notice submitted before this date and work starting within one year.
For new dwellings, the main changes to Part L1A are:
A reduction in energy usage; a 6% saving on carbon dioxide emissions relative to the current Part L 2010.
An improvement in energy efficiency; a new requirement to achieve a fabric energy efficiency target. gcp have experience of designing to this target since its introduction in the Code for Sustainable Homes in November 2010.
gcp delivers another rural housing project for SWHS
gcp have worked with South Western Housing Society; one of our key repeat clients, to deliver another development of 14 new homes in Mid Devon. The project creates new houses for local families in the village of Lapford which is a small rural community where affordable homes are in short supply. The project builds on learning and experience from other projects completed for SWHS in Devon and Somerset, particularly in respect of energy and sustainability. gcp's combined expertise in design and sustainability have provided low energy homes with simple technologies that will be efficient to run and easy to manage.
The Carriageworks and Westmoreland House
Knightstone Housing Associaton and gcp have been selected by Bristol City Council to work with them on the infamous Carriageworks and Westmoreland Site in Stokes Croft, Bristol.
Proposals were submitted in mid-November 2013 as part of an ITT submission, the result of which were successful and announced at the Carriageworks Action Group press release on the 2nd December 2013.
gcp are delighted with the news and look forward to working with Knightstone on yet another iconic inner city site for Bristol City Council (see Junction 3).
The next stage will involve legal processes to gain access to the site to carry out the necessary site investigation works. Watch this space!
UK's first BREEAM Excellent Sports Centre Celebrates 10 Years
In the early years of the Lottery Sport Fund St Paul's Sports Academy broke the mould for new build inner city sports centres. Following 18 months of detailed community consultation designed and coordinated by gcp the community supported the idea for a centre with high environmental performance standard and a layout that integrated Cabot Primary School who shared the site.
Located adjacent to the M32 on the way in to central Bristol, the scheme was designed for Bristol City Council with advice from their leisure centre contractor. It was the first new the dual use sports centre on a primary school site for many years and a was the first sports project in the UK to achieve a BREEAM Excellent rating.
gcp joined a celebration party just before Christmas with many of the original team and provided a display that charted the history of the site following the riots in the early 1980's through to the present day.
The scheme was awarded a local Civic Trust Award in 2004.
Click here for a tour of the centre.
gcp team selected for redevelopment of iconic Carriageworks
Following on from the success of the J3 development, Knightstone Housing is selected as the preferred bidder for the compulsory purchase of this iconic site.
The Carriageworks and Westmoreland House have long been a blot on the Bristol skyline. The site, owned by a London based developer has been subject to several ambitious but ultimately unsuccessful planning applications. Bristol City Council, with the active support of the local community through the Carriageworks Action Group selected Knightstone through a formal tender process which will see final proposals submitted this August. gcp Chartered Architects are delighted to be part of the Knightstone team charged with developing a viable solution for this site.
The next stage of work will include consultation with stakeholders to help define the parameters of the scheme. The consultation process needs to support the final stage of the tender process but also feed into any subsequent planning application. gcp identified the opportunity of working as part of a CABE Design Council pilot for a Consultation Toolkit being developed alongside the Joseph Rowntree Foundation and The Good Homes Alliance.
gcp Catalyst for J3
gcp was the catalyst for landmark and much visited J3 development adjacent to the M32 on the approach to Bristol City Centre. This scheme, that includes a major new library for Bristol was the result of critical connections gcp made back in 2004. J3 opened on 19th March 2013. To read about our J3 connections click here.