Setting the standards

01/04/2015

Some of the best performing buildings assessed under the sustainable buildings standard, BREEAM, were recognised at the annual BREEAM awards celebration hosted by TV architect Charlie Luxton in London on 3rd March 2015.

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ow in its 25th year, BREEAM was the world’s first sustainability standard for buildings, communities and homes and is used in over 70 countries around the world. To date more than one million buildings have been assessed against the standard with ratings calculated against a broad range of sustainability criteria by independent BREEAM assessors.

The extensive use of BREEAM reflects a growing awareness of the many tangible advantages of building sustainably, which go far beyond the well established environmental benefits. A common theme running through the projects shortlisted for this year’s Awards, for example, is the reporting of high quality buildings with low maintenance and running costs. They are attracting long-term tenants, better meeting the needs of users and gaining extra value for their owners.

More than 50 groundbreaking projects were shortlisted from across Europe for the 2015 awards, with eight awards going to UK-based projects and others to projects based in France and Norway.

A panel of independent judges, including architect Bill Gething, Claudine Blamey of the Crown Estate, Alan Cole of the Home Office, Mike Smith of BSRIA, Louise Sunderland of the UK Green Building Council and Thomas Lane of Building magazine, selected the winners from shortlists of the highest BREEAM scoring buildings in each category. Their decision was based on the specific circumstances, challenges and achievements of each development as well as the very high BREEAM scores achieved. A selection of six of the awards winners are briefly outlined here.

Brent Civic Centre

Brent Civic Centre is a newly built community building near Wembley Stadium, to which Council employees have relocated from 14 different buildings. A Council spokesperson says: “Everything in here, from the windows to the lights and even the way staff will operate their computers, is designed to save energy.”

Winner of the BREEAM Mixed Use and Other Buildings Award, the judges agreed that this project demonstrated the local authority’s and design team’s commitment to changing their working ethos in pursuit of high performance. It provides a resilient and wide-ranging set of lessons that could be applied in many circumstances across the public and private building sectors. The focus on reducing whole life cost in a public building was a key feature.

Dumfries and Galloway Acute Mental Health Unit

Despite the constraints of its role as a mental health facility, the Dumfries and Galloway AMHU project has succeeded in providing a naturally ventilated building with high levels of daylighting and a low carbon design.

The judges selected this building for the BREEAM Healthcare Award. They felt that the team had delivered a design strategy that successfully reduced environmental impacts while creating a supportive and high quality internal environment – in challenging circumstances.

The innovative pre-fabricated structure and windows designed for security and natural ventilation are both fully replicable for future projects, as is the approach to providing high levels of daylighting and views out to the landscape and the gardens.

One Pancras Square, Kings Cross Central

“It makes sustainability not just feel good but look good,” says to the team behind One Pancras Square, a BREEAM Outstanding rated office building at the gateway to the King’s Cross development in London.

With its distinctive, twisted iron columns reflecting the Victorian heritage of the site, One Pancras Square won the award for BREEAM Offices New Construction. The judges agreed that the team had demonstrated a healthy dose of flair and innovation in tackling sustainable design in a highly commercial context – avoiding stereotypical solutions and creating an iconic building.

Washington Plaza

Washington Plaza, a Parisian office building near the Champ-Elysées received the BREEAM Offices In-Use Award. The Offices In-Use shortlist reflected the remarkably strong uptake of BREEAM In-Use in Europe – particularly in France – with three buildings in Paris, one in Bucharest and one in Luxembourg City.

The city-centre location of Washington Plaza has not limited its green ambitions. The extensive planting enhancing the ecology of the site, for example, includes a spectacular green wall 80m long and 7m high. Green spaces are watered by a rainwater harvesting system comprising four 5000-litres tanks.

Green and lounge-style spaces, as well as work spaces, have been designed to improve the access to, use and circulation of people, creating alternative areas for socialising. The design team says that components such as these contribute to the value of the building.

119 Ebury Street

This conversion of a hotel in the City of Westminster (originally a single family home) into three duplex apartments won the BREEAM Residential Award. It sets a high standard for the sustainable retrofit of listed buildings in the UK, demonstrating how much their environmental impact can be reduced whilst preserving historically significant urban fabric.

Through the hard work of a close-knit design team and the co-operation of a forward-looking council, the refurbishment of this listed building impressed the judges with its holistic design strategy, and adoption of new technologies in a traditionally conservative high-end market place.

107-109 Charing Cross Road – Foyles Flagship Store

This Foyles store, housing over 200,000 titles on four miles of shelves, won the BREEAM Retail Refurbishment and Fit-Out Award. The health and wellbeing of staff and visitors was a priority in this project, with dynamic thermal modelling used to predict thermal comfort and high quality lighting meeting CIBSE guidance on light levels. Materials used are low polluting, low embodied energy and responsibly sourced.

The judges were impressed by the transformation of the Foyles Store, which has enhanced both the building’s performance and facilities. The successful execution of a complex refurbishment project on a difficult site, coupled with the use of thermal mass, low carbon technologies and a green roof in a central urban location, were particularly impressive.