With concept and design project stages – where this work is often done – being where the largest potential gains can be made, the power to positively influence a project with thorough optioneering to reduce risk and increase predictability is crucial..
Traditionally, offices in the UK are large spaces located in city centres, accommodating all staff in the same location, where connectivity and business opportunities are at hand.This idea is already being challenged by companies who are moving towards operating smaller hubs, strategically located at walking or cycling distance from the areas where staff live, often far from the city centre.. With people having demonstrated they are able to work from home effectively (and sometimes more effectively), offices do not need to be sized to operate constantly at full occupancy.
This approach is beneficial for improving sustainability and work-life balance, reduces time spent commuting and lessens corporate carbon emissions from heating, cooling and especially daily commuting, which typically accounts for the highest proportion of a company’s carbon footprint.. Bryden Wood carried out an internal carbon emissions audit, which showed that the adoption of home-working can reduce corporate emissions by 69% compared to working five days a week in the office.This is mainly due to the reduction in emissions from Scope 3 (commuting)..The price of land, especially in cities like London, has pushed developers to build deeper and taller buildings without much space for green infrastructure.
Deep plan buildings do not prioritise design for wellbeing, as they reduce daylight availability and visual connection to the outdoors, and also limit the possibility of opening windows, making them unsuitable for creating healthy indoor environments.Moving office hubs to the urban periphery, where prices and density are lower, can create an opportunity for healthy architecture, as narrow-plate spaces provide better and healthier environmental conditions.
Lower land prices also facilitate the development of open green spaces between buildings, bringing the added benefits of biophilic design.. Lower occupancy densities and the adoption of flexible working hours also mean new spatial requirements; reducing individually assigned spaces, more hot desking and creating flexible office spaces with adaptable layouts.
These adaptations will require innovative HVAC design which can address changes in local environments with suitable sensors and control systems..It would take too long and be too disruptive to do the required refurbishments.
It would be too risky because of the typical levels of programme uncertainty in these types of projects.It would be impossible to review and approve the design to ensure the required quality for these types of highly regulated buildings.
It would be impossible to get the required supply chain capacity for the required design, manufacture, and construction capabilities.. What we need is a fundamental rethink with regards to the future of coal and how nuclear facilities are conceived, designed, procured, and delivered.Instead of approaching this task as thousands of individual refurbishments, we need to have a unified approach where the design is simplified and standardised in such a way that a much wider range of designers, manufacturers and contractors can participate, and the design knowledge is embedded in building systems and design tools so that everyone involved can benefit from the learning on all the other projects.. To achieve this, we are working with Terra Praxis and their wider team, including specialists from MIT, University at Buffalo, Microsoft and KPMG, to:.