"Green Building" - The Solution

Prior to the start of construction a significant amount of time went into the design, development and prototyping process.  This involved modelling the building for optimum environmental performance before finalising the specification and design guidelines.

The approach taken featured the following design solutions:

Mechanical ventilation is enhanced using a unique ThermoDeck system which distributes and tempers the air supply to the floor plates through a labyrinth created from the hollow cores. The building is very well insulated, reducing the cost of the loss of energy through the physical super structure

The building is designed to passive solar principles, using the early morning sun to warm the building, but excluding the midday sun to avoid overheating.

Thermal Mass

The thermal mass of the concrete frame acts as giant storage heater in winter to recover the heat generated by people and computer systems.

During the summer the concrete works like an ice store, chilling the building down overnight to maintain a cool temperature during the day

Large roof lights provide plenty of natural light avoiding the need for electric lighting for most of the year

• The toilets use a vacuum system to reduce the amount of water required from 6 litres down to just 1.2 litres per flush
• Rainwater is harvested from the roof and used to flush toilets, contributing to less water requirements for sewerage.
• Landscaping is designed to be ecologically sensitive, using native planting and wetland areas to encourage natural habitat.
• Surface water run-off and excess rainwater is disposed of back into the landscaping and recycled back into the water supply.

Summary

The Challenge

The Solution

The Results

Photography

Exterior

Interior