Mason Bros is an exemplary retrofit, in which new offices have been carved out of the shell of a 1920s warehouse. Andy Pearson finds out how the building in Auckland, New Zealand, exploits passive design and digital technology to minimise building energy use before, and during, occupation
Category: Case Studies
Health provider: The Samson Pavilion at Cleveland Clinic
With significant variation in seasonal temperatures and occupant density, the HVAC systems modelled at the Samson Pavilion in Cleveland, Ohio, USA, by Foster + Partners had to be highly flexible. This was borne out by its recent conversion into a Covid-19 surge hospital, as Phil Lattimore found out
Chamber music: Brinson Staniland Partnership’s earth labyrinth ventilation for Kent College’s Great Hall
To help maintain comfort conditions in Kent College’s Great Hall, air is cooled using five giant, subterranean concrete chambers. Andy Pearson speaks to engineer Brinson Staniland Partnership about how the labyrinth ventilation system works
Adapting to university life: UCL’s Student Centre emerges from lockdown
The new Student Centre at University College London has reopened after lockdown, and its flexible design means numbers can increase as social distancing guidelines change. BDP’s James Hepburn describes the building
Healthy and smart: Edge’s plans for a London Bridge office tower
Smart-office pioneer Edge is coming to London and aiming for the highest ratings possible for Breeam and Well certification. Andy Pearson speaks to Atelier Ten’s Meredith Davey about balancing sustainability and wellbeing, and designing safe services around Covid-19
A marvel of science: Institute of Physics headquarters
The Institute of Physics’ innovative use of ground source heat pumps helped it secure the Commercial/Industrial Project of the Year accolade at the CIBSE Building Performance Awards. Andy Pearson reports
Rapid response: delivering a 4,000-bed NHS Nightingale Hospital in nine days
When ExCeL was chosen as the site for an NHS Nightingale Hospital, the project team had nine days to build a 4,000-bed critical care facility ahead of the expected surge in London’s Covid-19 cases. Andy Pearson talks to the key engineers
How ExCel’s services were adapted for NHS Nightingale
BDP publishes instruction manual showing how other large buildings could be converted into field hospitals
CIBSE’s Retrofit Project of the Year – UCL, 22 Gordon Street
The CIBSE award-winning retrofit of 22 Gordon Street has saved University College London £110,000 in annual bills. Andy Pearson looks at how BuroHappold Engineering used thermal mass in the original structure to minimise energy use and how researchers helped identify comfort issues
CIBSE’s Building Performance Champion – The Engine Shed
The Engine Shed in Scotland was named Building Performance Champion because sustainability was embedded at every stage of the project, from the briefing workshop to building aftercare. Andy Pearson speaks to Max Fordham about the design process behind the exemplar scheme