Futurebuild notes by Matt

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Here is some of the interesting stuff from my Futurebuild visit.

 

Keynote Stage 2

Session Title: The LETI Client Guide: Supporting Clients Develop & Deliver on Net Zero Carbon

Presenter: LETI

Interesting points:

Not much new learning here as it was effectively a publication launch. This could be a useful document to share with clients who are interested in net zero as it is very accessible. https://www.leti.london/clientguide

 

Digital Impact Stage

Session Title: Proven methods for improving performance in the digital built environment

Presenter: Alison Nicholl, Head of Constructing Excellent, BRE

Interesting points:

It was a bit of a product overview of Urban XR which is AR software for constructing building models. There were also discussions with developers and consultants who use AR to design. Not massively relevant for our scale of projects but something like Google cardboard could be worth exploring for one off projects. https://arvr.google.com/cardboard/ https://urban-xr.com/

 

Digital Impact Stage

Session Title: The social housing challenge and how digital twins are presenting new solutions

Presenter: Bola Abisogun, Urbanis

Interesting points:

A really interesting presentation from a fantastic speaker. Looking at using digital twins and smart buildings to track maintenance issues etc for social housing. He is trying to establish a methodology for social housing data management which is standardised and open platform so everyone can see the issues in real time. Building logs would also be stored on the blockchain so data cannot be lost or meddled with. I will try and share the slides for this one when they become available.

 

Keynote Stage 1

Session Title: Now is the time for timber

Presenter: Andrew Orriss, COO of Structural Timber Association

Interesting points:

Some really interesting information about ongoing fire tests on CLT. It seems the testing process is currently underway so hopefully once they have proven compliance with various standards CLT will be more widely used as a product. https://www.structuraltimber.co.uk/sectors/clt-special-interest-group

Futurebuild notes by James

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Generally, really useful to see some new products and services on show, with some interesting discussion topics in between.

 

Innovation stage

Session Title: Generation Zero – Natural timber solutions for retrofit and newbuild.

Presenter: Matt Stevenson of Eco System Technologies

Interesting points: In partnership with GenZero, they are working with the DFE to deliver healthier atmospheres within schools, through sustainable modular design.

They offer the use of natural materials in a controlled environment, which can reduce waste, maximise recycling and potential re-use potential.

The use of timber in buildings provide good quality environments that are better for health and promote well-being.

 

Digital Impact stage

Session title: The new Breeam Platform; data driven whole life performance.

Presenter: Dr Shamir Ghumra, Head of building performance services

Interesting points: Bre are diversifying to add useful interactive data systems to aid Breeam assessors, manufacturers, and clients during the assessment process.

One example being greater engagement and assurances for manufactures during the product development stages, this avoids unnecessary abortive work.

 

Keynote Stage 2

Architects Climate Action Network (ACAN) Natural Materials WG: Natural materials in practice

Passivhaus Talk 1 by Paper igloo Director, Mhairi Grant, Director.

This was a Self-build home she built with her partner, which is called Ostro Passivhaus, near Stirling.

There was a constant use of timber throughout the building, it was described as a ‘box within a box’ as the ‘inner box’ contains all the services and circulation and serves the surrounding spaces.

The home achieved passivhaus certification and technical standard section 7; sustainability gold level.

Pasivhaus Talk 2 by Architype director, Ben Humphries.

Hackbridge Primary School, Sutton, London.

Situated next to an area of metropolitan open land and the BedZED eco-village, this offered an obvious opportunity for the architect to use natural, low-embodied carbon materials.

They adopted a timber-based palette, birch-faced plywood linings, a ‘Larsen truss’ timber frame with wood fibre insulation and sweet chestnut cladding (due to its long lifespan, reducing replacement costs).

He identified the use of pvc in schools (and generally) as being an awful crime, due to the emissions of VOCs. It’s too easily chosen for trunking to conceal services (instead they chose to use plywood, which I thought was neat).

He finished with a statement ‘If you don’t need a material, don’t use it’.

Architype are also carrying out post occupancy studies to monitor improved health and wellbeing at the school to gather feedback. They are already working other schools where they are improving performance and are always looking at other bio-based materials.

Futurebuild 2022 review by Martina

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ACAN

The Architects Climate Action Stand had some interesting alternative structural construction materials in 1:1 scale detail models. I was unable to catch anyone for a chat but here’s their website info for reference: https://www.architectscan.org. I’ve added my pictures for interest to this blog.

NET ZERO + NATURAL MATERIALS - Keynote Stage 2

TIMBER ACCELERATOR HUB (TAH) – Joe Giddings Project Director The Alliance for Sustainable Building Products https://asbp.org.uk/

Funded by Louders (?) Foundation, Timber Development UK, Swedish Woods and other partners.

Set up to investigate the major challenges and barriers that mass timber is facing in the UK. These preventing the wider uptake of this set of products.

 Challenges          1. INSURANCE - Construction insurance on site & Building insurance for the completed asset.

                            2. FIRE - Building regulations and fire safety

TAH Ambition: to establish a network of different stakeholders seeking to address these challenges in their field and then to enable a cross industry collaborative approach, identify any gaps and to develop solutions to overcome the challenges to enable a wider use of mass timber. (Mass Timber: refers to the group of products CLT, GLT, DLT, LVT – any layered laminated timber system)

TAH – Have run a number forums on topics including:

  1. How to design mass timber high rise buildings

  2. Fire Safety in mass timber buildings

  3. Repairability and Durability

They have a number of topics coming up too. Developers Working Group could be something we might want to be a part of in some sort of way as they convey the problems developers are facing and are exploring a best practice rulebook for mass timber office design and good detailing.

Also quite interesting – as a result of the this networking, a group of developers have been exploring ‘an alternative risk transfer vehicle’ – forming an insurance company in order to avoid the expensive traditional insurance market.

Part of the Governments Net Zero strategy was to establish a policy working group for timber in construction and the increase in timber usage. TAH are informing the process with industry knowledge share and looking to inform the government policy. 

Further Reading:

I found this when I was looking back at my notes which I found interesting: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_sQQAC9EgXI

G&T’s Mass Timber Office Forum

INSULATION: Natural Fibre Insulation Group – Mark Lynn

Natural Fibre Insulation is currently 1% of the UK market, in contrast to France and Germany at 10% and growing. Verified EPD list for natural fibre brands to be published on the ASPB website. (e.g. Therma fleece)

Typical Natural Fibres & Embodied Carbon: Hemp, wood fibre, sheep’s wool, straw, flax – cellulose, demi – cellulose, lignan, keratin is 50% bio genic carbon equivalent to 180% Co2.  1kg of natural fibre sequesters about 2kg of Co2. Bio genic carbon very good mechanism for offsetting energy to allow the building fabric to act as a caron store in the same way timber does. Something in the UK that’s not given much value to in contrast to France for example, where they are adopting a dynamic LCA approach and value to the biogenic carbon. There is a big driver for natural materials in construction. If regulation doesn’t drive this in the UK then perhaps the market will drive this way.

Indoor air quality & Humidity Regulation: breathability provides a mechanism to get rid of a residual amount of moisture. (Kingspan said breathability was irrelevant because 90% of moisture in a building is removed through ventilation. But what about the other significant 10% mass of water?) Natural fibres adjust their moisture content in balance with humidity and the surrounding air. When the surround air drops, humidity increases and the fibres essentially suck the moisture out of the air and are constantly pulling the air away from the dew point as temperature drops.

Thermal performance: higher k values than PIR/PUR. To achieve like-for-like U-Values, Natural Fibre Insulation requires a thicker building fabric.

A good insulation to use in retrofitting in terms of improving existing building performance. A key indicator is the energy usage data to compare savings.

Phase shift: This is the natural fibre insulation thermal mass – when heat penetrating the building fabric during peak periods doesn’t reach the internal space until +- 12 hours after the peak heat.

Further reading: https://asbp.org.uk/group/natural-fibre-insulation

THE HEALTH AND CARBON BENEFITS OF NATURAL PAINTS – Anton Boekhoudt , National Architectural Business Development Manager, Keim Mineral Paints.

 Interesting conversation around the application of natural paints. Particularly in regard to breathability of buildings. Interesting example about usage in existing buildings i.e. damp basement covered in layers of plastic based paints that dried out once removed and a natural paint applied.

BARCHAM

I also listened in on a Barcham talk with an invited landscape designer who talked through some interesting streetscape projects that were proven to improve biodiversity, wellbeing, safety and security whilst connecting the residents to nature in a densely populated and built up area. Made me think we could apply some of these concepts to our projects i.e. Hales Farm (client willing) where we have shared pedestrian and vehicle surfaces.

I’ve picked up two of their guides regarding Species Selections for developments as well as a Planting Guide. There’s some great details and illustrations and it might be useful for any personal projects.

SUMMARY

I spoke to a few specialists in MMC which was informative, however I was disappointed there wasn’t more conversation around manufacturing, material selection, performance, embodied energy. I felt maybe some of the talks were slightly generic and ‘buzz-wordy’, but overall a good opportunity to see what innovation was going on in the UK.

Futurebuild 2022 account by Tom Hubbard

I got stuck in the demonstration area for quite a chunk of the day where there was a talk on COB building, lime plaster/render, straw bale building. Although I had previously seen these methods of construction as self-build small scale projects I was surprised to discover they are being more commonly used for larger commercial scale projects with fantastic environmental impact. They reduce the need for membranes and have a net zero carbon impact so something we might see more of in the future.

 

The COB walls can achieve building regs at a certain thickness (Link to website attached). There is also now a block product being produced by H.G.Matthews https://www.hgmatthews.com/ called a Strock which is structural block of clay and straw which can be used for internal load bearing walls up to 3 storeys and has a very low embodied energy and as such seems like a great alternative to concrete blocks.

 

For more info and details for COB buildings and details you can find info here http://www.cobbauge.eu/en/

 

I went to MPA The concrete Centre: Optimising the use of concrete which discussed the consideration of concrete frame buildings and their potential change of use in the future and ensuring that the design for the concrete frame takes this into account in the design stage. I.e should we be designing a residential block to be changed to an office in the future? A conversation to be having with the structural engineer and client at the design stage to ensure buildings are dynamic and can adapt to a changing world.

 

My main takeaway of the day. We have essentially come back round to the idea that natural materials we have been building with since the bronze age are actually the best. Timber, lime, clay, earth, straw are all sustainable, clean and don’t leech nasty chemicals into the spaces we work, live and learn in.

World Down’s Syndrome Day

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Monday was World Down’s Syndrome Day. A day marked with mismatched socks because our differences are what makes us great. It brings awareness and starts a conversation of the equal rights and equal opportunities that anyone with additional needs should be entitled to.

 

We know about the day because of our colleague’s nephew. We celebrate the day because equality is important. Inclusion means no one is left out and no one is left behind.

ECB Bradford Accessibility Review

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Making cricket facilities accessible: 3 things we have learnt

Accessibility and inclusivity are fundamental requirements for the ECB when developing any new or refurbished facilities. In 2019 the ECB launched their Inspiring Generations (2020-2024) strategy which looked to deliver on six objectives:

·         Grow and nurture the core

·         Inspire through elite teams

·         Make cricket accessible

·         Engage children and young people

·         Transform women’s and girls’ cricket

·         Support our communities

Urban Cricket Centres (UCC) provide a unique opportunity to deliver on many of these objectives, but to fully reap the benefit of these high aspirations, due consideration should be taken at an early design stage.

For the first UCC in Leyton, East London, achieving any accessibility goals were particularly challenging due to the nature of the existing buildings. Through careful planning, we managed to reimagine the existing buildings to provide; a range of improvements including a range of accessible gender neutral changing spaces for individuals, small groups and teams; lift access to a first-floor viewing area which now includes Perspex panels to allow for uninterrupted views from a wheelchair, a dedicated faith room, and step free access around the entire facility. Elsewhere on the site two further changing rooms were refurbished to provide flexible changing for the outdoor cricket / football pitches as well as introducing new referee and accessible changing facilities again with step free access to make the whole site fully accessible.

Working on the design stage of the second UCC in Bradford even more scope for inclusivity was available to the design team as the scheme needed a new entrance and circulation routes for the centre. Through collaboration with Jane Simpson Access at scheme design stage,  the project provides first class accessibility through having: accessible WCs on every level, providing dedicated accessible changing, improving the existing changing to allow for ambulant WCs and showers, increasing the size of circulation routes and sizing the lift to accommodate sports wheelchairs, and providing additional accessible parking spaces and ensuing step free access to the facility.

Refurbishing existing buildings to improve accessibility comes with its challenges, but these changes are fundamental to creating Urban Cricket Centres which truly serve all of their communities. The top three things learnt from these projects are:

1.       Ensure accessibility is fully discussed by key stakeholders and is integral to the client briefing stage

2.       Engage an appropriately qualified access consultant as part of the design team early in the development process

3.       Ensure the true cost of the access improvements are picked up in the cost planning process, and provide the client with specific cost advice on the access enhancement as they might be able to attract specific funding for features that go beyond the minimum requirement of the Building Regulations

To further support the design and management of cricket facilities, the ECB has created a suite of documents including a guide, survey form and facility check list as part of their drive to Create Welcoming Environments. These guides are equally applicable to any sports facility.

Mezzanine Guardrail sketch review

A Message from Jeremy Pilling

I am standing down as a director and shareholder of gcp Chartered Architects as from 1 March 2022 as planned.

Having held those posts since 1994 and having been a partner of the original practice since 1987, I am undoubtedly doing so with mixed emotions.  Obviously, on the one hand I will be able to devote more time to pursue interests outside work but on the other I will miss day to day involvement with clients, consultants and colleagues.

I will continue to support the current directors on a consultancy basis for two days a week in any way I can but also hope that I will be able to develop a few new and some existing enquiries into viable projects to hand on to what is a very strong and multi-talented in-house team.

I regard the business becoming Employee Owned in August 2020 as one of our most significant achievements and wish the current directors Jon Briscoe and Tom Mellor all the very best for their future at the helm and Jon Platt for his next task over the next year or so to hand over the reigns as the director responsible for new business.

Despite the significant challenges posed by both Brexit and the pandemic over the last couple of years, I am confident that I am leaving the business in good health and in good hands.

Finally, I would like to thank all those I have worked with over the last thirty five years. Although at times it has felt like a huge responsibility It has also been a privilege and I am very proud of what we have achieved together.

Jeremy Pilling

03/03/2022

International Women's Day.

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We join the IWD community to celebrate the achievements of our women.

To highlight just a few of these, we have recently welcomed Martina, who has immediately made herself part of the gcp team. Catriona, an Architectural Student, who has also recently joined us from Bath University on a four-month placement, has a passion for creating thriving and sustainable communities. Sarah, our social secretary, has recently summited the final design project of her part-2 qualification at Oxford Brookes University. Completing this all whilst in full-time employment, which is a fantastic achievement!

A momentous day for gcp

It is a momentous day in the history of gcp chartered architects. Today is founding partner Jeremy Pilling’s last day of full time employment with the company. This marks the next step for gcp chartered architects as an employee owned trust. The current directors, Jon Briscoe, Tom Mellor and Jonathan Platt are looking forward to an exciting future with a talented and dynamic team.

Everyone at gcp chartered architects thanks Jeremy for his unstinting efforts during nearly 35 years at the helm, and look forward to working with him as a consultant in the coming years.

A few selected images from over the years

gcp plant 68 trees and 69 shrubs to support local tree planting program

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gcp have recently teamed up with Avon Needs Trees to support their ambitious tree planting program across the Avon valley. Avon Needs Trees is looking to reforest and rewild the Avon valley by planting trees which will enhance biodiversity, provide natural flood management, improve water and air quality as well as sequester carbon from the air.

By volunteering at the Stanley Lane site gcp managed to plant 68 trees and 69 shrubs which will be maintained by Avon Needs Trees through their ongoing commitment to the site. We also donated to planting at ANT's nearby site at Hazeland and hope that these trees will continue to grow over the coming years and go some way to offsetting the carbon we create as a business in the future.

gcp are committed to tackling climate change both through our designs and our actions. We hope to build off this initial planting session by further developing our carbon tracking, reduction, reporting, and offsetting strategies to better understand how we can make a difference.

Welcome Philip Baker!

The directors are delighted to appoint Philip Baker, an experienced Architect, as a full time member of the gcp team.  Phil last worked for the business in the late 1990’s but now brings lots of practical knowledge of managing large scale construction projects firstly in Cyprus and then in the Middle East.

Jon Briscoe Appointed as Managing Director

The directors are delighted to announce that Jon Briscoe has been appointed to act as Managing Director of gcp Chartered Architects effective from 1 September 2021. Jeremy Pilling has stepped down from the role in preparation for ceasing to be a director of the business by March 2022. After this time, Jeremy will remain an employee of the business and provide project related support.

Jon looks forward to providing the leadership needed to develop the business as an Employee Owned Trust supported by co-directors Jonathan Platt and Tom Mellor and the wider management team.

Investigations into whole life carbon analysis

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gcp are always looking for ways to improve as a business. For years we have analysed the operational energy of our designs, but now we are starting to review our performance as a business by setting up our own carbon strategy which looks at tracking, reducing, and offsetting our carbon emissions. Currently we can track our scope 1 & 2 carbon emissions, however the elephant in the room for design and construction businesses currently is scope 3 emissions and specifically whole life carbon in the buildings we design.

Whole life carbon analysis is currently quite challenging due to the wide range of calculators available, and the level of detail required to accurately measure embodied carbon. Gcp have recently trialed three pieces of software to inform how we can perform embodied carbon assessments in the future. The results from one of these are listed below.

We took Foundation Park Pavilion, Swindon as the test project and ran it through the carbon assessment software to see how much carbon is embodied within the construction. We then ran the same project with a CLT frame rather than traditional construction and 70% GGBS in the concrete mix to see the impact. The conclusion was that using CLT and cement substitutes would have given a 66% decrease in embodied carbon and pushed the design well beyond the RIBA 2030 Challenge standard. [Calculations using FCBStudios carbon assessment tool].

This new form of building analysis can be implemented from Stage 0 and help to inform decisions around construction type, finishes, servicing etc. Moving forward we will be looking to integrate this analysis into our design process to better inform clients and improve the performance of their buildings.

Barton Gardens, Sherborne, North West Dorset

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This site is the first for the construction of a terrace of three modular 3 bed houses, designed and fabricated by Rollalong Ltd, based in Dorset.

Rollalong Ltd are partnered with Magna Housing, to provide homes at infill sites in the local region.

The first phase of 5 sites are existing garage block plots, no longer deemed viable and ideal brownfield sites. These vary in size between 6 and 20 units.

Rollalong have developed the various house and flat types to be factory certified approved by NHBC.

The site infrastructure, drainage and external works, as well as the installation of the modular units in place, are by Fisher and Dean Contractors, based in Nailsea. gcp are providing support to Fisher and Dean, with site layout design coordination, external works, site based Building Control and planning conditions discharge.

green gcp

gcp have been an environmentally conscious business for a long time both in terms of designing low energy buildings and with our own business operations. As part of our efforts to reduce our carbon footprint we have just installed a new heat recovery ventilation system to our office.

No longer is fresh air provided by opening a window leading to cold draughts and complaints from staff of being too hot or too cold. Our new mechanical ventilation system recovers the heat from old stale air and passes it to fresh air drawn from outside with up to 80% efficiency. Internal comfort is massively improved, and heating / cooling costs will be reduced.

We estimate the new ventilation system will save 2.1 tonnes CO2 each year reducing the office energy demand by 25%.

Additional benefits come from greater levels of fresh air creating a healthier office with lower levels of CO2 in the air keeping us more alert and reduces the chance of infections spreading through the air.

gcp have been supported with this installation by a Green Business Grant from the West of England Combined Authority funding 35% of the overall costs. WECA support SMEs to improve the energy efficiency of their buildings and business operations. This helps reduce greenhouse gas emissions and can save businesses money on energy bills. Green Business Grants are funded through the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) and the West of England Combined Authority's Recovery Fund.

Planning Granted at Silcox Road

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gcp are continuing their works for SERS/Rateavon Ltd to upgrade Bristol City Council’s existing tower block housing stock. The latest blocks to be regenerated are Hayleigh House, Millmead House and Middleford House in Hartcliffe which have recently received planning approval to upgrade the windows/doors, improve the external wall insulation and update the external appearance following design consultations with the residents and Bristol City Council Major Projects team.

Works are currently underway with completion scheduled for July 2022

Work Life Week 2021: Using National Awareness Days to Evaluate Our Progress

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At gcp, supporting mental health has always been at the core of devising sustainable working practices. We have long had family-friendly working policies in place and support flexible working requests for a variety of reasons from caring responsibilities to personal development, knowing that there is no “one size fits all” solution to improving work/life balance.

For the last few years we have used Work Life Week to evaluate our progress, celebrate achievements in this area and set targets for the following year. In a busy, hybrid working environment, it is helpful to use National Awareness days and weeks as a way for the whole team to think about and discuss our mental health at the same time.

In 2019 we held a mindfulness and creativity week, where we took some time out to be creative together. This was a great opportunity to have fun, take a break from our screens and chat with members of the team we might not work with on a day-to-day basis.

In the midst of a pandemic, Work Life Week saw a change of focus to physical activity breaks: we set ourselves a 1,000,000 step challenge for the week and encouraged everyone to take time off from their screens to get some fresh air. Working virtually, we also held coffee mornings as an opportunity for some chit-chat amongst the increasingly work-focused Teams meetings.

It is important to highlight that these weeks aren’t just one-off events, but something gcp are keen to continue to improve on. In the past year, we have signed up to Thrive at Work West of England and have embarked on a two year commitment to improve and evaluate our working procedures in a way that puts keeping our team mentally healthy at the core of what we do.

One year into this commitment  we have made some subtle shifts in established working practices to support mental health, wellbeing and balance. At the beginning of 2021 we introduced private health insurance for everyone, to provide easy access to medical support for physical and mental health issues.

Long supporters of Mind, all members of the Senior Management Team have already completed Mental Health Awareness Training for Managers in 2021. This training will be provided to the rest of the office during 2021s’ Work Life Week.

This year we also ran an Employee Satisfaction Questionnaire to let us know what we are doing well already and what we need to improve, on an individual and organisational level. This will now become an annual undertaking, with benchmarking questions used to track trends amongst our team. As a result of this survey, we have:

  • Put mental health at the forefront of one-to-ones and reviews

  • Committed to putting wellbeing plans into place for anyone who needs it

  • Reinforced our one-to-one chats, now scheduled every 6 weeks (these are informal chats with directors outside of the formal review system, when any issues or concerns can be raised or feedback given)

  • Checked in on the wellbeing and mental health of staff via an anonymous survey

  • Arranged mental health awareness training for the Senior Management Team

  • Collaboratively planned for return to the office / bubble mixing

  • Attended a RIBA CPD Wellbeing session, with action points fed back to the wider team

  • Encouraged coffee breaks Tuesday & Thursday @10.30 for drop in (online – or in office for those in an office-based bubble)

  • Empowered staff to set up challenges, breakout rooms, coffee breaks, informal meetings as and when they need / want them

To follow, we will in the next 6 months:

  • Arrange mental health awareness training for the whole team

  • Devise a wellbeing & mental health policy, using our survey results, research and findings from year 1

  • Run the annual Employee Satisfaction Survey & report on trends / actions to wider team

  • Undertake a review of our appraisal system

Our Events Team will:

  • Define a place to play games, do puzzles, sketch at lunch (when closer contact is permitted)

  • Plan architectural/cultural day trips

  • Plan lunchtime events: games, exercise, Lego, pub – a mix of events to appeal to a wide audience

It is fair to say that the pandemic has highlighted both the positives and the challenges of virtual working and so this year for Work Life Week, we have changed the focus towards discussions about what sort of working environment we want to create as we move towards 2022.

gcp became employee owned in 2020 and now more than ever the wellbeing of our colleagues is central to us being a successful business. In Work Life Week 2021 we will be having daily discussions around the following:

Flexibility:

What does flexibility mean to me?

How does it impact my colleagues?

Mental health:

What can I do to help my mental health?

What can gcp do to help my mental health?

Practicality:

How do we see the new flexible and hybrid system working?

Creative and collaboration:

How do we see creative and collaborative design working in the new flexible and hybrid system?

Burn-out:

What is the best way to avoid burn-out? How do I work best?

For this week and beyond gcp continues to place employee wellbeing and keeping our team mentally healthy at the core of our company values.

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