Good design, monitoring and control have ensured The Hive library in Worcester has comfortably beaten its energy targets. Afroditi-Maria Konidari and Ian P Knight, of Cardiff University, look at how proactive building management and low-energy design reaped results
Category: Case Studies
Creature comforts – David Attenborough Building
How do you turn a brutalist, uninsulated, concrete structure – housing the University of Cambridge’s zoology department – into a naturally ventilated showcase of sustainability that encourages collaboration between conservation groups? Andy Pearson finds out
Raising the bar – Land Rover BAR headquarters for the America’s Cup
Land Rover BAR will attempt to achieve Britain’s first America’s Cup victory next year. If its teamwork is anything like the collaborative approach taken to design its HQ, Sir Ben Ainslie stands a good chance of bringing home the trophy. Alex Smith reports
Sound of success – acoustic design in music schools
Creating the right acoustic environment in a performance space is a painstaking task that requires a multidisciplinary approach. Liza Young speaks to the team behind a new University of St Andrews music centre
The art of cooling – services design at the Tate Modern extension
Its façade is not the only thing that’s cutting edge about the new Tate Modern extension – it uses water from the gravel below to cool and heat the galleries inside. Andy Pearson explains the innovative strategy
Safe harbour – the Chatham Historic Dockyard restoration
For 200 years the historic HMS Namur lay forgotten under a wheelwrights’ shop at The Chatham Historic Dockyard. Now it’s the star of an exhibition on the age of sail in a Grade I restoration. Alex Smith reports
A picture of health – Well Building Standard at Cundall
Cundall’s new office is the first project in Europe to receive Well Building Standard certification. Liza Young finds out what this involved, and how it affects staff wellbeing and productivity
Out of reach – South Bank Tower retrofit
A vibrant mixed-use tower has emerged from a dreary 1970s London office block after engineers worked out how to accommodate a multitude of building services into its concrete structure. Andy Pearson reports
In control – thermal comfort and productivity
Architect AHMM has used its office as a testbed for thermal strategies in a building with no cooling. AHMM’s Craig Robertson and Ines Idzikowski Perez, of UCL, report on the balance between cost, comfort and productivity
Heat stress – addressing overheating at Addenbrooke’s Rosie maternity unit
Mothers, babies and staff at the Rosie maternity unit in Cambridge can endure summer temperatures of over 30°C. Alan Short, Renganathan Giridharan, and Kevin Lomas look at what can be done to improve resilience at the 1983 facility at Addenbrooke’s Hospital