Yesterday was Earth Day and in celebration Duncan was invited by Brighton & Hove Energy Services Co-Op (BHESCo) to join a panel to discuss the climate emergency and how the city can become carbon neutral by 2030.
To watch the full panel debate and BHESCo’s 50th Anniversary Film please click below.
Council: Brighton and Hove City Council
Eco-refurbishment overlooking the Sussex coastline
Refurbishment and internal alterations will provide a greater connection to the garden of this Art-Deco property situated in Ovingdean, Brighton. The proposal takes advantage of outdoor living, making the most of the views over the Brighton coastline.
Terrace house extension
Our proposal reconfigured this Georgian terrace house in Brighton to provide an open plan kitchen/dining area and external courtyard.
We are delighted to announce that we have received planning permission for two of our ongoing projects.
Project One: 6 New Homes, Barcombe Cross, Lewes
Last week saw Lewes District Council’s planning committee grant outline planning approval for proposals to develop six new dwellings on a site outside the planning boundary of the rural village of Barcombe. The process started back in 2014 when BBM were approached by the clients, who had the plot for over forty years, to look into the feasibility of obtaining a planning permission for new housing on the site. BBM suggested a strategy of first promoting the plot for a site allocation through the local planning authority’s Strategic Land Availability Assessment. BBM then prepared a capacity study looking at the development potential which it then presented to the local Parish Council and local neighbours of the development. Feedback was taken on board and the quantum of development, with the clients blessing, was reduced from the twelve units to eventually six. With the assistance of planning consultants, Kember Loudon Williams, representations were made to the draft Local Plan Part 2 in January 2018 which were successful in gaining the plot an allocation in the draft Local Plan. At this point the team assessed there was a good chance the scheme would be positively received by the LPA so long as all the necessary supporting surveys and assessments were in place including ecological, heritage, arboricultural, soil contamination and transport reports as well as an outline drainage strategy. That assessment has now been proven correct with the planning committee granting the outline approval on the 21st November 2018.
Project Two: Community Base retrofit Phase II
The Community Base building located on Queens Road, Brighton, East Sussex currently houses nearly thirty charities and voluntary organisations. Through 2016 – 2017, BBM were involved in the initial phase of work as the building underwent a major refurbishment and upgrade of the facades including new windows, new wall insulation and cladding. The works have so far seen a 20% reduction in energy bills and a significant improvement to occupant comfort. These phase 2 works will see other elements of the six storey / 54 metre long building receive similar refurbishments and upgrades.
The Brighton Waste House project page
Supported by: INTERREG VA France (Channel) England
The award winning University of Brighton’s Waste House is currently undergoing an innovative makeover.
In line with Duncan’s ongoing research project with Sustainable Bio & Waste Resources for Construction (SB&WRC) and INTERREG VA France (Channel) England The Waste House has incorporated new recycled and reused materials into the building fabric.
Since the recent success and publicity of David Attenborough’s BBC series Blue Planet II The Waste House has gained further recognition.
The Waste House is almost entirely made from thrown away materials most of which were heading for landfill or incineration. Materials used in the construction include toothbrushes, denim jeans, dvd cases, floppy discs, carpet tiles and construction waste. These materials have now been joined by used duvets from The University of Brighton’s halls of residence which are being used as insulation. Whilst oyster shells from the critically acclaimed English’s oyster bar have been mixed with waste aggregates from a neighbouring building site (Preston Barracks) to form wall tiles.
Duncan recently spoke about the buildings modifications:
“It is great to see the Waste House continuing to break new ground four years after it was first completed. Duvets and oyster shells are not currently widely recycled yet, like so many of the other materials we have used, are perfectly suited to alternative uses. We will now be testing how they perform so that we can demonstrate to others the huge potential.”
Further reading: The University of Brighton’s Architecture and Interior Architecture blog.
Website: Edie.net
Project Page: The Waste House, Grand Parade, University of Brighton
The award winning Waste House has received further press this week from the popular sustainability website Edie.net. As part of our their Mission Possible campaign, this week they have produced a weekly round-up of five of the best sustainability success stories of the week from across the globe. The full article can be read here.
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!”
Now an open design research studio, run in partnership with our colleagues delivering the Sustainable Design MA on campus who us it as their teaching studio for two days a week, the Brighton Waste House is be available to schools, colleges and community groups for ‘green’ themed events and any interested parties can join in with sustainable design workshops and events curated by designers, artists, makers, builders, scientists writers-in-residence, whoever is interested.
The University of Brighton’s Waste House has been ranked one of the world’s most eco-friendly homes by a leading design company.
India-based design consultancy Minds Eye Design produced a YouTube film of some of the world’s most sustainable home builds and placed the University’s in third spot: https://youtu.be/bQnJpf0ge00
The award-winning Waste House, designed by architect and University of Brighton lecturer Duncan Baker-Brown, was made almost entirely from thrown away materials most of which were heading for landfill sites.
Baker-Brown said: “We are delighted the Waste House has been recognised in this way, and it is marvellous that the House is continuing to receive accolades four years after it was completed.”
“This is a reflection of the tremendous hard work and commitment invested in the project by many people including 350 students from the University and Greater Brighton Metropolitan College, volunteers, FREEGLE, the online reuse network which sourced much of the Waste House materials, The Mears Group and many contributing companies and organisations.”
Materials used in the project included 20,000 toothbrushes, two tonnes of denim jeans, 4,000 DVD cases, 2,000 floppy discs, 2,000 used carpet tiles, and construction waste.
Situated in the grounds of the University’s City Campus in Grand Parade, the Waste House is a live, ongoing research project and permanent new design workshop focused on enabling open discussion and understanding of sustainable development.
For more information about the House go to: http://arts.brighton.ac.uk/projects/wastehouse or visit our project page here.
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.
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.
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.
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’.