SB&WRC PROJECT AT THE WASTE HOUSE

12/07/2018

Research project development

University of Brighton Waste House

“For every five houses built one house worth of material goes to landfill or incineration”

SB&WRC PROJECT AT THE WASTE HOUSE

The project intends to manufacture insulation prototypes made solely from bio-based and recycled materials. Supported by the INTERREG VA France (Channel) England programme the project receives financial support from the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF).

SB&WRC PROJECT AT THE WASTE HOUSE

The University of Brighton is one of the English partners of the SB&WRC project. Their deep involvement in alternative building technologies has led to impressive experiments and results that continue to inspire researchers and practitioners. Duncan, Dr. Ryan Woodard, Senior Research Fellow within the School of Environment and Technology, and Ben Bosence, an expert in building conservation are currently working together to create one of the insulation prototypes.

SB&WRC PROJECT AT THE WASTE HOUSE

Last month Duncan met with the partners of the INTERREG SB&WRC at The University of Brighton’s Waste House. The hot topic of conversation was the progress which has been made since the last strategic meeting in January. Full details on the day can be found here.

SB&WRC PROJECT AT THE WASTE HOUSE

The Brighton Waste House is the first permanent ‘carbon negative’ public building in Europe to be constructed from approximately 90% waste, surplus material & discarded plastic gathered from the construction and other industries, as well as our homes. It has Full Planning & Building Regulations Approvals. It tries to prove “that there is no such thing as waste, just stuff in the wrong place!”.

SB&WRC PROJECT AT THE WASTE HOUSE

GREEN SOLUTIONS AWARDS 2018

27/06/2018

/ BBM Architects

Cast your votes for The Waste House

Green Solutions Awards

Construction21

This years Green Solutions Awards will showcase exemplary buildings, districts and infrastructures who are contributing to fight against climate change. With your vote the Brighton Waste House could gain further acknowledgment for its green credentials. The International competition is run by the Construction21 network who provide a dedicated platform to all professionals active in the sustainable building and city sector.

GREEN SOLUTIONS AWARDS 2018 You can find The Waste House listed under three out of five of the categories which are as follows:
Energy & Temperature Climates
Energy & Hot Climates
Low Carbon
Health and Comfort
Smart Building
Users’ Choice

To find out more about the awards and cast your vote please click here.

GREEN SOLUTIONS AWARDS 2018 The Brighton Waste House is the first permanent ‘carbon negative’ public building in Europe to be constructed from approximately 90% waste, surplus material & discarded plastic gathered from the construction and other industries, as well as our homes. It has Full Planning & Building Regulations Approvals. It tries to prove “that there is no such thing as waste, just stuff in the wrong place!”

About 65% of the waste material utilised in this building is from the notoriously wasteful construction industry (around 20% of construction material ends up in landfill-WRAP). However the idea was developed further with Cat Fletcher founder of FREEGLE UK. Cat suggested the we draw attention to the huge environmental consequences of throwing away everyday consumable domestic objects, as well as including other industrial waste streams in the project. Therefore the Waste House also ‘locks’ other sources of waste material, often utilising it as low to medium grade insulation.

GREEN SOLUTIONS AWARDS 2018 One of the main aims of the project was to prove “that there is no such thing and waste, just stuff in the wrong place”. It is also an exercise in truly open accessible collaborative design and construction. This innovative low energy building was constructed completely by over 360 students & volunteers as young as 15 years old.

The project continues a line of research by BBM considering truly sustainable sources of materials and construction systems, or to be more precise truly ‘circular metabolisms’ that will one day help create a ‘Circular Economy’. Baker-Brown’s experience on this project has enabled him to write a book ‘The Re-Use Atlas: A designers guide towards a Circular Economy’.

UNMAKING WASTE 2018 INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE

20/06/2018

/ BBM Architects

Buildings as material banks: Designing for perceptual re-use

When: 20th-23rd September 2018

Registration link

Location: University of South Australia (UniSA)

Buildings as material banks: Designing for perceptual re-use When: September 20-23 2018 Registration link Location: University of South Australia (UniSA)
In September Duncan will be a keynote speaker at “The Unmaking Waste 2018” international conference. The conference will be hosted by the China-Australia Centre for Sustainable Urban Development and the University of South Australia.

“Building upon the achievements of our first conference, Unmaking Waste: Transforming Production and Consumption in Time and Place (May 2015), Unmaking Waste 2018 will be focused on the problem of consumption itself, and its role in increasing emissions, resource depletion and environmental degradation. The following themes will be addressed from a multidisciplinary perspective:

Eco-Design and Development:
Designing, defining and managing objects, buildings, precincts and systems to reduce resource and energy use, and thus increase environmental and human well-being.
Sustainable Consumption:
Transforming behaviour, social practices, everyday consumption and service provision, including marketing, to better suit a resource-constrained, environmentally challenged world.
Waste Minimization:
Reducing waste and pollution at all scales, in all domains and activities, and in all places, and transforming this waste and pollution into states of greater value for reuse.
Circular Economy:
Optimizing social, material and economic relations and the value of goods and services to further the goals of the Circular Economy, including product and environment life-extension, reuse and repair.”

Further details on the event can be found here.

UNIVERSITY OF BRIGHTON GRADUATE SHOW

30/05/2018

/ BBM Architects

The University of Brighton end of year show

Location: Hastings Pier
Open to the public: Tuesday 5th – Sunday 10th June
Saturday 9th free space – A day food, celebration, school & community events
Free entry

The University of Brighton’s School of Architecture and Design is delighted to announce that its annual graduate show will take place on Hastings Pier.

Hastings Pier recently awarded the RIBA’s Stirling prize, hosts a wide range of activities. This Year’s student show will coincide with a monthly food market, outdoor performances of A Midsummer Night’s Dream and the regions annual 1066 cycle festival. Saturday will include talks by designers and architects, including the Pier’s architect.

Full details on the show can be found here.

THE ARGUS FEATURE THE WASTE HOUSE

15/05/2018

/ BBM Architects

“Architect’s plea to construction firms”

Featured Project: The Waste House at the University of Brighton

The Argus website

Newspaper Issue: 15th May 2018

Be sure to collect a copy of todays Argus newspaper!

“Architect’s plea to construction firms” the article discusses Duncan’s thoughts on constructing buildings as material stores for the future. The article features the award winning University of Brighton Waste House, for further details on the project and Duncan’s current research project click here.

MATERIALS FOR ARCHITECTURE 2018

25/04/2018

/ BBM Architects

Interreg Research Project Conference

Location: Ilec Conference Centre, 47 Lillie Road, Fulham, London, SW6 1UD

Dates: 26th March 09:30 – 16:30

Visitor Registration – Free to attend

Conference page

Duncan will be speaking at “Materials of Architecture 2018” tomorrow at the Ilec conference centre. As part of his current research project he will be discussing product re-use and buildings as material banks.

Teaming up with ASBP, Interreg and Sustainable Bio & Waste Resources for Construction (SB&WRC) the research project is making significant progress towards the design and manufacture of the first insulation prototypes made from biobased and recycled materials.

The project is supported by the INTERREG VA France (Channel) England programme and receives financial support from the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF).

The full programme and exhibitor list can be found here.

BIRLING GAP VISITORS CENTRE – THE NATIONAL TRUST

19/04/2018

/ BBM Architects

Feasibility design complete for The National Trust’s Birling Gap Visitors Centre

Project Page

BBM were appointed by The National Trust to provide a high level feasibility stage design concept for a relocatable building which can serve as a visitor centre for the site at Birling Gap into the later half of the Twenty-first Century and beyond.

Birling Gap is one of only three points of access to the beach between Eastbourne and Seaford, East Sussex. It is within the South Downs National Park and on the South Downs Way.

The National Trust owns 2.43ha of coastal downland at this point including a small café, shop, exhibition space and education/meeting room. They are visited by approximately 350,000 people a year. As a key gateway to the National Park it provides direct access to over 320 hectares of countryside managed by the National Trust. The core of the main visitor building dates from 1903 and was originally built as a hotel. It has been largely extended and consists of single storey construction, black stained timber cladding, white framed windows on timber framed walls with slate roofs.

In the winter of 2013/4 around four metres of cliff eroded in about two months and necessitated the demolition of the sun lounge, west wing, kiosk and one of the remaining coastguard cottages. The anticipated rate of recession is 1.2m -1.5m per year. Erosion will continue and so the Trust is considering its options for maintaining visitor facilities at Birling Gap incorporating their Shifting Shores principles, facing up to the challenges of adaptive coastal change management and the need to roll-back.

BBM have done a landscape character appraisal considering the site from some of its main approaches towards finding an architectural response which positively contributes to the setting. The study also reviewed some of the relocatable building technologies, recognising some of the constraints of the site access as well as the tie-in with a forty year life cycle of the various building components which might need to be replaced at the time of a move.

The resolved design adopts forms which are readily moveable and align the buildings on an east west axis to give them excellent potential to generate useful passive solar gains, provide summer shading, on site renewable energy generation and yet present a relatively small cross section to the prevailing wind. The main public interiors and south facing terraces are afforded views to the sea, whilst the wind shaded entrance court provides a safe means of opening doors in storm conditions as well as additional outdoor seating areas. The design proposes to keep and integrate the existing external WC block. The scheme includes a proposal for a couple of wind turbines which can generate energy particularly during the lean winter months and act like flag poles announcing the location of the facility to walkers and motorists approaching the site.

For full details on the study visit our project page here.