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Tag Archives: retrofit

BBM CELEBRATE GRAND OPENING OF JAMIE’S FARM IN LEWES WITH HRH THE DUCHESS OF CORNWALL

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31/05/2019

/ BBM Architects

Following the conversion and extension of an existing farmhouse into accommodation for residential workshops, BBM celebrated the grand opening of Jamie’s Lewes Farm in style alongside special guest HRH the Duchess of Cornwall, charity founder Jamie Feilden, charity trustee Peter Clegg, and other members of the project team.BB

Jamie’s Farm is a charity that combines therapy and farming for disadvantaged young people. Children from all over the country participate in a 5 day residential experience geared towards improving self-esteem and behaviour, and preventing school exclusions. The Lewes residence is their fourth farm, and features stunning views of the South Downs.

BBM took a complex site and carefully rationalised it to serve the needs of Jamie’s Farm. A grade II listed farmhouse was converted into a communal living space, old offices within an agricultural square were converted into flats for staff, and other agricultural areas were repaired until they were able to support a working farm again!

Some of the Jamie’s Farm Ambassadors, who had stayed at the farm during its soft opening period earlier in the year, also attended the event to show the guests what they had learned at their stay there.

For more information on Jamie’s Farm, please click here.

News / lewes, Material banks, retrofit, sustainable design

TWO PLANNING PERMISSIONS IN ONE WEEK

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05/12/2018

/ BBM Architects
Planning Permission approved for a difficult Housing Development and a Phase II Office retrofit

We are delighted to announce that we have received planning permission for two of our ongoing projects.

Planning Permission approved for a difficult Housing Development and a Phase II Office retrofit work

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.

Planning Permission approved for a difficult Housing Development and a Phase II Office retrofit work

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.

News / Barcombe, BBM Projects, BHCC, BN1, Bridgelands, brighton, Community Base, east sussex, energy efficiency, Green, Green Architecture, Housing development, lewes, phase two, Planning, Planning permission, Queens Road, reduced carbon footprint, retrofit, riba, sustainability

VIVA BRIGHTON 2017

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29/09/2017

/ BBM Architects
VIVA Brighton Magazine September Issue

The Viva website

Issue: September 2017 Issue 55 Electric

Published inside: The Brighton Waste House 

VIVA Brighton Magazine September IssueBoth The Brighton Waste House and ourselves are mentioned in the popular VIVA brighton magazine. Featured in the Bricks & Mortar section the article discusses sourcing green energy and Brighton’s top green buildings.

“The Waste House at University of Brighton and Earthship Brighton in Stamner Park are the poster-buildings of eco design in the city”

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!”

VIVA Brighton Magazine September Issue

News / architecture, BBM Projects, circular economy, Closed loop systems, east sussex, eco, energy efficiency, Green, Green Architecture, lewes, Materials, re-use, Recycle, Recycling, Reduce, reduced carbon footprint, retrofit, riba, RIBA Publishing, SDNP, sussex, sustainability, sustainable design, sustainable innovation, The Waste House, University Of Brighton, Viva, Viva Brighton Magazine, waste house

HOMIFY FEATURE EAST SUSSEX SUSTAINABLE MASTER PLAN

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23/06/2017

/ BBM Architects
Sustainable master plan in Hadlow Down, East Sussex

Project Profile

Construction Time: 20 months

Completion date: July 2015

Gross floor area: 459m2

Build rate: approx: £3000/m2 (house only)

Contract value: £2.5 million (house and some external works)

Main Contractor: Chalmers & Co. Ltd.

‘U’ Values: Floor 0.12 Wm2/k, Walls 0.12 & 0.15 Wm2/k, Roof 0.14 Wm2/k


The online home website Homify have published our masterplan project located in Hadlow Down, East Sussex. The full feature can be found here

HOMIFY FEATURE EAST SUSSEX SUSTAINABLE MASTER PLAN
BBM were commissioned in 2008 to propose a sustainable master plan for a country estate in East Sussex. Our client wanted us to consider the viability of developing a derelict 1940’s dairy, retrofitting and extending a 1970’s house and a 19th Century Oast House situated next to each other. Working with Studio Engleback, who produced a parallel strategy for the surrounding landscape, the challenge was to create a low energy development from a brief that is traditionally extremely energy hungry, i.e. a new heated swimming pool with steam room and sauna, an external ‘natural pool’, and a high specification country house set in 275 acres of Wealden countryside that includes a lake and 150 acres of standing coppice woodland.

HOMIFY FEATURE EAST SUSSEX SUSTAINABLE MASTER PLAN
BBM & Studio Engleback came up with a low carbon strategy for this normally high carbon programme. It was agreed that local construction materials would be used, that the buildings would be extremely well sealed and insulated, and that a mixture of heavyweight and lightweight materials would be used to make the most of their abilities to store heat or insulate.

HOMIFY FEATURE EAST SUSSEX SUSTAINABLE MASTER PLAN
Our clients’ woodland is also the source of woodchip for the new biomass boiler that provides energy for heating the whole site. Nearby woodlands have also provided timber for cladding the dwelling and pool house inside and out, as well as providing joinery. Waste timber also forms the majority of the external wall and roof insulation. Designing a heated pool house plus sauna and steam room predominately out of timber products was particularly challenging, and we think, successful.

HOMIFY FEATURE EAST SUSSEX SUSTAINABLE MASTER PLAN
Local authority Planners asked that the pool house kept the form and volume of the derelict diary it replaced. However the new house was allowed to be a lot more expressive, responding to its site and orientation, its proximity to the double Oast House that its Northern roof and three story ‘light canon’ begin to emulate. The form of the roof attempts to reconcile the orientation of the building that faces South East: the roof is lifted up and twisted around to face due South allowing solar PV panels to benefit. It also expresses the main entrance of the dwelling viewed from the East, as well as reflecting the form of the neighbouring Oast House beyond. This undulating form is reflected in the first floor ceilings that also express this functionality. This expressive roof form collects rain water for use on the site, harnesses solar energy and controls natural light allowing it to penetrate the centre of the plan to express the treble height of the stair case, the north light over the living room and perhaps most poetically at different times of the day via the light canon over the meditation room.

HOMIFY FEATURE EAST SUSSEX SUSTAINABLE MASTER PLAN
The new house was designed to relate to the surrounding landscape in a number of ways while the pool house is broadly North-South facing with its straight-forward solar and sedum roofs. Each elevation of the house is quite different, responding as it does to orientation to the Sun and major views out towards the lake and beyond, as well as to the need for solar gain in the winter and shading from the Sun in the Summer.

HOMIFY FEATURE EAST SUSSEX SUSTAINABLE MASTER PLAN
It was decided that the main themes of the three projects would be the expressive architectonic form and the material qualities of the internal and external finishes as existing or as specified: a robust simplicity for a working house on a farm.

HOMIFY FEATURE EAST SUSSEX SUSTAINABLE MASTER PLAN
The main house was constructed from 225 solid block work finished internally with either lime plaster or Moroccan Tadelakt, with 150mm of timber fibre board insulation on the outside finished with a chestnut ‘hit & miss’ rain screen or lime render. The main wall separating the meditation room from the entrance hall is made from rammed earth taken from the ground beneath the meditation room. A similar suite of materials is used for the interior of the Pool. The Tadelakt plaster works particularly well in this warm moist atmosphere and was traditionally used in Moroccan bathhouses.

HOMIFY FEATURE EAST SUSSEX SUSTAINABLE MASTER PLAN
The thermal mass of the walls and the polished concrete floors combined with external wall insulation and a sophisticated MVHR systems designed by Battle McCarthy enable the internal environment to be stable and comfortable.

HOMIFY FEATURE EAST SUSSEX SUSTAINABLE MASTER PLAN
This focus on the use of organic materials (that ‘lock’ C02 instead of burning it) from the site and surrounding area, as well as an interest in an architecture that responds to the many opportunities afforded by the location and this collection of buildings and landscapes, continues BBM’s enquiry into ‘Built Ecologies’ (an exhibition at RIBA HQ in 2008): the idea of a contemporary low energy local or regional vernacular born out of the surrounding landscape.

HOMIFY FEATURE EAST SUSSEX SUSTAINABLE MASTER PLAN

News / architecture, BBM Projects, east sussex, eco, energy efficiency, Green, Green Architecture, hadlow down, Homify, Low carbon, Low energy development, MVHR, Oast House, Passive Solar Gain, PV Panels, reduced carbon footprint, retrofit, riba, sussex, sustainability, sustainable design, sustainablility, Wealden, Wealden District Council

An Insight Into the Re-Use Atlas

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23/03/2017

/ BBM Architects
The Re-Use Atlas: A designer’s guide to the circular economy

Author: Duncan Baker-Brown RIBA FRSA

Purchase link

Entry number 9

Would you like to visit the previous entry? Click here

Since the Waste House was completed in June 2014, Duncan Baker-Brown has been working on a book that considers the challenges and opportunities presenting designers and clients who wish to ‘mine the anthropocene’, i.e.work with existing places, communities and stuff previously mined and processed. Duncan’s book is entitled ‘The Re-Use Atlas’. It will be published in May 2017. However, this blog will give people the opportunity to read parts of the book before the publishing date. Enjoy!


Part 2 of the atlas is divided into four chapters, taking the reader on a step-by-step route towards closed loop systems. Each ‘step’ contains a number of case studies that capture some of Duncan’s first-hand research, gleaned from interviewing over fifty people involved in inspiring projects from around the world that tackle recycling, re-use, the reduction of resource use, and finally closed loop systems. These case studies are supplemented with one longer interview with a significant protagonist from each of the aforementioned steps. Therefore unless stated otherwise, any comments quoted from people in the case studies have been taken directly from interviews Duncan had personally with them.

Step 3 Reducing the amount of material used

Case Study – Jakob + MacFarlane’s transformation of the Docks de Paris building

I had originally wanted to discuss one of my favourite retrofit projects, Jakob + MacFarlane’s transformation of the Docks de Paris building from 1907 into the ‘City of Fashion and Design’. The massive in-situ cast concrete frame and floor plates from the original shipping depot were kept, with the architects designing what they call a ‘plug-over’, which is actually an external steel and glass skin complemented with timber and grassed decks. The new facade is pulled away from the old frame to allow for a new circulation zone. The roof is topped off with an array of solar photovoltaic panels.

The reason I like this building is simple: the architects have seen the value in this simple piece of concrete infrastructure from over a century ago. With the minimum of effort, Jakob + MacFarlane have transformed it into a centre for high culture, and they have done this in a visually expressive and exuberant manner that begs the viewer to ask questions of this clever retrofit project. They have also done this with the minimum of new material, as the lightweight steel and glass facade makes the most of the potentials of the old strong and thermally massive concrete frame to work hard for the new programme. But I’m not going to speak about this building as I think there is another linked topic that is more important to discuss in my Re-Use Atlas.

This topic is less glamorous, but I believe it is one of the biggest challenges we have as architects and designers. It is the task of adapting for climate resilience the buildings, neighbourhoods, towns and cities that are already built and inhabited. How can the retrofitting of our existing places be done in a creative, intelligent and sensitive way, so that it reduces humankind’s carbon footprint, without displacing communities and perhaps obliterating centuries of cultural and social history?

The City of Fashion and Design is an ingenious solution to a design challenge. However, the large size of the site, and the single occupant, makes the project perhaps an easier nut to crack than what I believe to be the biggest retrofit challenge we have – how to convert multi-occupancy, unloved and poorly maintained housing estates. It is this challenge that I want to consider now, and I will do this by looking at the UK’s housing retrofit challenge.

The UK, which has more than 27 million homes, has some of the most energy inefficient dwellings in Europe. As a result they are also the most expensive in Europe to heat. Around 50% of these homes were built before 1960, with only 10% built since 1990. One of the consequences of this situation is that fuel poverty is also at a higher level in the UK than in any other comparable EU country. The definition of ‘fuel poverty’ is if a tenant is spending more than 10% of their net income on their fuel bills.2 More than 10 million families live in ‘fuel poverty’ in properties with a leaking roof, damp walls and rotting windows. Despite this, UK CO2 emissions have fallen by 35% when compared to 1990 levels.3 However, the UK needs to reduce its CO2 emissions by a total of 80% when compared to 1990 levels, and needs to do this by 2050. Recent CO2 emission reductions have started to slow down. The UK, like all its European partners to a greater or lesser extent, has a huge challenge ahead to meet its CO2 emission reduction targets by 2050. Another issue is that many experts estimate that 80% of the houses currently standing will be the structures trying to meet these ambitious targets. For numerous reasons, the UK doesn’t build much housing, or demolish it.

The lack of demolition is a good thing for the environment. However, the high energy consumption associated with these leaky old structures is not. So with this in mind I wanted to dwell upon the big challenge of how to adapt existing UK housing, new and old, so that it is climate-change resilient. This challenge should not be underestimated. The temptation to demolish large housing estates from the 1950s–70s is great, but as the UK learnt with the wholesale destruction of its so-called slums to make way for these large estates, along with the clearing the Victorian terraces, the bulldozers destroyed whole communities. As we have seen with a number of case studies in this chapter, a well-informed retrofit project has the potential to greatly enhance the performance of a place without destroying the community it supports.

Retrofit is complex though. The UK government’s innovation agency, Innovate UK (formerly the Technology Strategy Board), has undertaken extensive research into this subject, supporting more than 80 retrofit case studies via its ‘Retrofit the Future’ initiative.4 This programme gave architects and social landlords the challenge of retrofitting examples of UK social housing from the 1870s to the 1970s. All of the case studies were given a (large) budget of £150,000 to spend on often very modest buildings, with a goal of reducing CO2 emissions to meet the UK government’s 2050 targets. Only eight of the case studies met this target.

So it is early days for top-quality retrofit projects. There are not many designers, contractors or clients who understand the complexities and challenges that face them when trying to deliver a successful retrofit project. Many retrofit projects deal with only some of the problems that a building might have. For example, many buildings are being over-clad with external wall insulation that dramatically reduces heat loss through the building fabric. However, this fabric-focused approach often comes at a cost for the tenants, resulting in poor internal air quality due to a virtually airtight fabric and poor background ventilation. The knock-on effect, especially in winter, is mould on internal walls due to a build up of moisture in the air. Another problem many people are anticipating is a new type of ‘fuel poverty’ – the inability of some tenants to afford the bolt-on air-cooling devices needed to deal with over-heating in the summer months. Retrofitting needs to be delivered in a holistic manner, where the design team and contractors have a deep understanding of building physics and a sensitivity towards the tenants they have to work around.

Having said all of the above, there are a number of architects and contractors who are doing an excellent job. One of these architecture practices is Gardener Stewart Architects (GSA), which is currently tackling some of the most challenging housing estates in the south-east of England. One of these is Wilmcote House, Southsea in Portsmouth, which comprises 100 three-bed maisonettes plus seven one-bed flats. Constructed in 1968, this development utilises a precast concrete panel construction system, with a fully electric hot water and space heating system. Although cost-effective and swift to erect in the late 1960s, the apartments in this social housing scheme are cold and damp, and for many of the tenants, too expensive to heat, creating ‘fuel poverty’. Maintenance costs are spiralling upwards, due in part to the coastal saline air and exposure to severe weather. The Le Corbusier inspired ‘streets in the sky’ external access decks create a security problem for tenants, and finally the projected economic and social costs of decanting and completely demolishing these buildings was not affordable.

GSA has attempted to solve all of these problems. The cold and leaky concrete skin is now wrapped with a new super-insulated and super-airtight wall that sits on its own foundations immediately in front of the old concrete walls, leaving them intact. New treble glazed Passivhaus-standard windows have been installed, with access balconies given over either to extending apartments or the creation of private balconies/sunspaces. Mechanical Ventilation and Heat Recovery (MVHR) has been installed for a number of reasons. It will ensure hugely improved air quality (reduced moisture content in winter will reduce the likelihood of mildew) and reduced energy consumption. This ‘fabric first’ approach is also underpinned with the retrofit version of Passivhaus design principles, called EnerPhit. GSA predicts energy savings of 80 to 90% (down to less than 20kWh/m2/yr). At £920/ m2 this project compares very favourably with ‘normal’ new build costs. However, the running costs of this are negligible when compared to normal new build housing projects, and, most impressively, the apartments have been increased in size, while the community has not been broken up and rehoused around the city; it has been kept intact. The hope is that the occupants of these homes will now not have to spend nearly so much of their wages on heating bills, and the aesthetics of the retrofitted buildings, together with the new communal and retail facilities, will help them live their lives in a more pleasant environment. Wilmcote House will hopefully meet, or even exceed, the UK government’s CO2 reduction commitments (80% by 2050) today rather than putting it off for tomorrow. Tenants will hopefully thrive in the new environments.

Blog / architecture, BBM Sustainable Design LTD, circular economy, City of Fashion and Design, Closed loop systems, DBB, Docks de Paris building, duncan baker-brown, east sussex, Jakob and Macfarlane, lewes, re-use, Recycle, retrofit, riba, RIBA Publishing, sussex, sustainability, University Of Brighton, waste house

Selecting a property for Eco Retrofit – PODCAST

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15/06/2016

/ BBM Architects
Choosing a suitable property to Eco Retrofit

Published on: www.houseplanninghelp.com

Article link: Click here 

Interviewed by: Ben Adam-Smith

To listen: Simply click the play button below

http://bbm-architects.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2016/06/HPH047.mp3

The director of The House Planning Help website Ben Adam-Smith created the site to provide advice when tackling a renovation or starting a self build property. The majority of this information is sourced from experts that Ben interviews.

Our very own Ian McKay has completed a podcast through this website. Within the podcast Ian gives advice and shows his extensive knowledge on how to find a property that will lend itself well to an eco retrofit. Ian contrasts two very different projects, the retrofit of a 1960’s terraced house and an upgrade of a Victorian villa from the 1890’s.

Some of the vital points discussed in are the interview are listed below.

  • Minimise Energy Demand Before Generating Energy 
  • Fussy Architectural Details Make Retrofits Expensive
  • Simplicity is at the Heart of Houses that are Cheap to Treat
  • A Terraced House Will Have Fewer Walls to Treat
  • Older Properties May Have More Irksome Problems
  • In the UK, Refurbishments are Heavily Taxed
  • Internally Insulating to Very High Levels Can Damage External Masonry
  • If You Have to Insulate Internally, Use Breathable Materials
  • Consider the Different Solutions Upfront
  • Conservation Orders May Limit How a Building Can be Treated

Click on the play button above to listen to the full interview! 

3FUTUREHOUSE 2FUTUREHOUSE

 

 

Blog / architecture, east sussex, eco, eco-retrofit, Energy, energy efficiency, house, Ian McKay, insulating, Materials, Planning, podcast, Purchase, retrofit, self build, sustainability

BBM Sustainable Design LTD - Cooksbridge Station House, Cooksbridge, East Sussex, BN8 4SW - 01273 400 319 - info@bbm-architects.co.uk