BDP 2021 The Big Conversation

The Big Conversation

Preston Studio, Vernon Street

Celebrating 60 years of design

Welcome to the Big Conversation 2021. This year marks the 60th anniversary of a seminal meeting between our founder, George Grenfell Baines, and his partners at Bryn Mor in Anglesey, when Building Design Partnership first came into existence. Looking back over one of the strangest years on record, this issue of The Big Conversation aims to provide something a little different. Naturally we will reflect upon the last 60 years of successful practice and the incredible legacy that our founder left; his ideals and the concept of a continuous collective that still holds true today. But this is also an opportunity to look forward, to ask how we, as a global design practice, can help build a better society as the global community emerges from the coronavirus pandemic. There will doubtless be a surge of creative thinking as we start to rebuild in the wake of the pandemic; a change in the way we respond to building and infrastructure programmes and how we apply new advances in technology to new ways of thinking about future communities that care for their people and the planet. Grenfell Baines was a visionary who introduced the concept of interdisciplinary practice to the world. Today we are a collective of architects, engineers, designers and urbanists who are well placed to apply agility, creativity and practicality to the process of creating modern, progressive places. We continue to take great strides forward in environmental management. For the first time, supported by our sustainability champions across the practice, we have begun to measure and monitor Scope 3 emissions in the pursuance of science-based targets. The circular economy is becoming more important as we pursue global targets to deliver zero carbon 4

Chris Harding

designs to combat climate change, an important area of focus for the newly created bdplab. Health and wellbeing unequivocally tops the international agenda. Research now proves what Florence Nightingale knew; that the built environment has the power to aid healing. We are proud that our award-winning healthcare designs that place as much emphasis on patient dignity as clinical efficiency, now also include the design of six NHS Nightingale emergency hospitals, delivered at breathtaking pace across the UK in April 2020. bdpbelonging, our practice-wide equality, diversity and inclusion network, was established to focus on developing initiatives across the practice to promote mutual understanding and encourage cultural change, and I am delighted that this initiative has been greeted with the enthusiasm required to embed thinking and drive this change. To continue to design to respond to society’s challenges we need the talent, passion and creativity of diverse teams at all levels. Throughout the extended lockdown we have recognised that mental and physical wellbeing is central to our success. We launched initiatives including #bdpmovestogether and regular studio and social events to engage our teams and ensure everyone keeps well and feels connected. With the vaccination programme underway and the number of cases of Covid-19 falling, we can approach the future with real optimism that we can physically come together before too long, returning to reconfigured workspaces capable of supporting new ways of working. So, as we look back across 60 years of collaborative practice, we also look forward to the next 60. The pandemic has made us reflect on our lives and survival, pushing us into an explosion of creativity addressing how we live, work, travel, learn and care for our citizens. An enormous thank you to everyone at BDP, our clients, collaborators and communities for your ongoing support and sharing our vision to make the world a better place. Stay safe, Chris Harding, Chair Foreword

People-Centred Placemaking values the needs and contributions of all. Our human-centred design approach creates an inclusive society, where everyone enjoys a sense of belonging and connection to their environment.

Resilient Places are environmentally sensitive and sustainable. We design places that promote a socialecological ethos that encourages people to support the natural world and take responsibility for the future of our planet.

Inclusive Communities are fostered in desirable places where people want to live, learn, work and relax. We create cities, districts and neighbourhoods that nurture wellbeing, diversity, mobility, community and affordability with the stability and flexibility to respond to global trends.

Innovative Cities foster commercial innovation and enterprise with a robust infrastructure and a talented workforce. Our designs deliver the resilience, regeneration, repurposing and responsiveness needed to support sustainable economic growth and operational efficiency.

Global Themes

Progressive Places Climate change, rapid urbanisation, digital disruption and demographic shifts, together with a worldwide health pandemic and economic fluctuations, are challenges facing the global community. It is our ethical responsibility as designers to find creative solutions to meet these challenges – for our clients and society. This year we are launching our Progressive Places campaign. Harnessing an interdisciplinary mindset, this is intended to stimulate ideas about the future of our cities, towns and communities where quality of life is pre-eminent. Four global themes address the current challenges and provide a framework for future thinking and progressive design.

Progressive Places

Contents

People-Centred Placemaking

10 A Gathering Of Idealists Hugh Pearman 28 Crisis, Care And Collaboration Andrew Panniker 32 Reconfiguring Retail Garry Wilding

38 What’s In Store For Our High Streets? Nick Edwards

40 The Arish Pocket Aysha Alhashimi and Moza Al Mansoori

42 Progressive Paediatrics Benedict Zucchi

16 Building On Our Values Lady Grenfell Baines 20 Future Trends Akshay Khera 24 Happy Anniversary Dublin Studio David Brennan 122 GGB Awards 132 Gotham City 2081 Design Competition 136 Awards 138 Chief Executive’s Review Of The Year John McManus

46 Powerful Placemaking Tianyi Gu 50 Ever The Optimist Mark Simpson

52 The Return Of The Fun Palace Daniel Walder

Inclusive Communities

Resilient Places

56 Reina: Queen Of The Condos Heather Rolleston

72 Soaking Up The Pressure Jenny Ferguson

60 Reimagining Age-Friendly Living Adam Park

76 Sustainability In Practice Sustainability Team

62 Life Lessons For Learning

80 The Electric Ireland Diarmuid Reynolds

68 What’s The Value Of Social Value? Beth Bourrelly

82 A Mayfair Medley Matt Bell

Innovative Cities 96 The Making Of A Super-Hospital Nick Fairham

84 Lighting The Way To A Circular Economy Mark Ridler

100 Making A City Move Peter Jenkins

88 Introducing The Hyper-Local High Street Nick Durham

102 Conquering The Complex Keith Papa 106 Rethinking Multi-Unit Residential: Imagining The Future Of Living Dev Mehta 110 Engineers, Assemble! John Roycroft 112 Celebrating The Future Of Rail In Scotland Ed Dymock

116 The Pencil And The Mouse Freddie Ribeiro

90 Why Nature-Inclusive Development Matters Björn Bleumink

George Grenfell Baines

A Gathering of Idealists

It all began, this interdisciplinary design business, with a man who saw no point in narrow specialisation or barriers between professions. George Grenfell Baines, born in 1908 as the son of a railwayman in Preston, north-west England, was one of those people who had no favoured subject at school, could do any of them as well as any other. He was interested in everything, and he carried this through into his professional life. He became an architect, starting his own practice in 1937, but he was anything but an architectural exceptionalist. What he wanted – inspired in his youth by Walter Gropius’ Bauhaus and left-wing idealism – was a place where all the professions involved in designing buildings could work together on equal terms. So in 1961 he summoned the partners and associates of what by then was Grenfell Baines and Hargreaves to a summit meeting at his Anglesey retreat, Bryn Mor. The practice was buoyant, having just won the competition for the new Pilgrim Hospital in Boston, Lincolnshire. The week-long bonding session was to thrash out the guiding principles of what was to become BDP. Grenfell Baines wrote: “Out of this will come, we hope, a new structure for the firm that will enable all who work with us to grow and change while the practice can grow and change as well. We have tried to plan ‘for ever’ – why not?”

Hugh Pearman

Writer, editor and consultant on architecture and design

private car ownership was burgeoning, this was conceived with air terminals in mind rather than the draughty canopies of conventional bus stations. You waited in comfort inside, proceeding to your bus through a numbered gate when your departure was called. It’s great that this unique building became a national cause celebre when it was threatened with demolition and is now not only saved and listed, but restored. Transport patterns have changed over the years but it still serves its original purpose, now with supplementary uses being planned.

More professions – especially civil and structural engineering – were soon added, and the Anglesey initiative rapidly resulted in a very successful model that also proved to be very resilient. Personality-based practices come and go but the interdisciplinary BDP, its founder’s name self-erased, survived in good health despite all the usual economic ups and downs. Sixty years later it is a global federation of 16 studios with a third of its total workload outside the UK, divided equally between public and private clients, spanning most sectors. It’s not unique in that trajectory but what’s interesting is the way the firm has held onto and reinforced its progressive ideals, specifically its strong sense of social responsibility. Those 60 years are waymarked with some pretty distinguished buildings and places, some now listed, some still in the process of being built. My personal favourites are: 1960s: Preston Bus Station (its distinctive serrated profile deriving from a very fresh look at how to make the levels of car parking above it read as a coherent building). Dating from a time when the north-west was a thriving industrial area and Progressive Places

modern UK multiplex cinema, The Point, in Milton Keynes. Ten screens! Restaurant, bar and nightclub! Designed for maximum impact on minimum money, a reflective ziggurat within its red-painted steel pyramid frame, it was not intended for a long life but nonetheless lasted into the 2020s, latterly housing a charity. It is still there at the time of writing, though probably not for long, despite moves to save it. It is fondly remembered: it marked an important cultural moment.

1970s: Another now-listed building, an extraordinary place, is the headquarters for what was the UK’s largest mortgage and savings provider, the Halifax Building Society. Diamondshaped in plan, elevated on four stout legs (also diamondplan) to make a covered plaza, it sails above the rooftops of this hilly Yorkshire milltown like a bronze-clad battleship. The mortgage deeds and correspondence of a quarter of the nation’s home owners, in those pre-digital times, were stored in a huge basement vault, retrieved on demand by a robot system. This was the era of Bürolandschaft or organicallyplanned open-plan offices, as was BDP’s pioneering first studio in Preston. BDP designed everything right down to the smallest details of the interior design, and returned to the building for interior upgrades in 1996 and 2002.

1980s: Postmodernism was in the air and the start of the decade found the youthful me working in the London studio as an in-house editor, an unusual role for a design firm at the time. As Thatcherism took hold, this was the moment of maximum danger for the BDP ethos: other partnerships were floating themselves on the stock market and (briefly) getting rich on the proceeds. Commendably, BDP with its long-term view chose not to go down that route: most of those who did fell by the wayside as the economy contracted and the unforgiving market tore them to shreds. From this period comes a commercial yet democratic building: the first 12

1990s: The St Peter’s University Campus, University of Sunderland was a ten-year programme over three phases, started in the mid 1990s, to make a complete university campus on the site of former shipyards on the north bank of the River Wear. This academic township was therefore as much an act of masterplanning and urbanism as of architecture. It also marked the clearest expression yet of BDP’s increasingly Scandinavian-inflected design direction at that time, a particular interest of its then design lead, later chair, Tony McGuirk. In his youth he had worked with Anglo-Swedish architect Ralph Erskine on the extraordinary Byker Wall project in nearby Newcastle. So the St Peter’s campus was doing a lot of things at once, from post-industrial regeneration via interlinked external and internal public space to setting a marker for a different, more organic and expressive kind of modernism. It was an important statement of intent for the wave of 35 new British universities, former polytechnics, launched by the 1992 Further and Higher Education Act. Its urban-led design approach came to permeate BDP’s design thinking, not least in more recent university projects such the XJTLU South Campus in Suzhou, China.

Hugh Pearman

variation – even rivalry – present in BDP’s studios around the UK in the early days, so it goes with the expanding number of international studios today, which become part of their locale and collaborate with like-minded consultants.

2000s: Nominated for the Stirling Prize, Liverpool One was a £1bn project covering 17 hectares of this great city, running from the centre down towards the previously somewhat disconnected waterfront. A complete mixed-use scheme including refurbishment and new-build, knitted into and restoring the streetscape, it was a masterplan to which BDP, as lead designers, contributed several buildings and public spaces of their own while inviting a roster of other distinguished architects to contribute as well. It’s a bit strange in places with its changes of level and there’s always the quibble that this is privately-owned streetscape rather than wholly public realm, but it all hangs together as an urban composition, a good place to be. It does not lock itself in, being capable of incremental change over time.

2020s: Healthcare buildings have been a strand running through BDP’s work since the very start, and in recent years the practice has been driving considerable changes in the sector. The Dublin Children’s Hospital is in the St James Hospital campus in the south-west of the centre. It is an enormous project and – in common with recent examples such as Liverpool’s Alder Hey Hospital – does things differently. It provides a large elevated garden and play area embraced by the oval plan of the wards around it, with a remarkable sequence of lofty circulation spaces winding between the departments below it. It responds well to the challenge of breaking down the bulk of such necessarily large places and gives them a genuinely civic quality. Two projects sum up the reach of BDP today. One is enormous, long-term, complex and of historic and symbolic national importance: the restoration and renewal of London’s Palace of Westminster (the Houses of Parliament) and a large section of its associated parliamentary estate. The other is the modest but revolutionary 2015 Enterprise Centre, Norwich Research Park. That is a collaborative project between architects Architype and BDP’s engineers, an exemplar of a fully sustainable, ultra-low carbon commercial building intended to last 100 years, made largely with locally sourced and made materials.

2010s: Fascinating because it demonstrates how an educational campus can form part of a larger masterplan in a topographically and climatically challenging area. One of the fruits of BDP’s Indian studio, the Indian Institute of Technology, Mandi is set in a relatively remote area of the Western Himalayas, running up a steep wooded river valley and – though large and with a variety of buildings – organised around a village square with radiating streets. It carefully adopts the regional construction vernacular and materials, part of what BDP describes as its ‘people and planet friendly approach’. It’s interesting to note that in one way, nothing has changed: just as there was always autonomy and regional

The future of everyone depends on such mutually beneficial and responsible design thinking becoming mainstream. It’s encouraging that BDP has recently implemented a social value strategy that embraces long-term sustainable thinking together with civic responsibility as part of its overall contribution to society. As Grenfell Baines said in the very different context of 1961: “We have tried to plan ‘for ever’. Why not?”

Progressive Places

Selected highlights from 60 years of practice 1969: Preston Bus Station

1971: University of Bradford

1971: Bank of England, Leeds

2002: Hampden Gurney School

2003: University of Sunderland

2003: AELTC, Wimbledon

2011: University of York

2011: Queen Elizabeth Hospital

2013: ESLA, Liverpool

2017: Westgate Oxford

2018: Xi’an Jiaotong University

2020: Glasgow Queen Street Station

Hugh Pearman

1974: Halifax Building Society

1994: Channel Tunnel

2000: Glasgow Science Centre

2003: Royal Albert Hall

2008: Abito Housing

2008: Liverpool One

2015: Alder Hey Children’s Health Park

2016: Boxpark Croydon

2017: Ordsall Chord

2021: The Well, Toronto

2021: AstraZeneca’s Global R&D Centre

2021: Palace of Westminster

Progressive Places

George Grenfell Baines – Guildhall, Preston (1966)

Building on our Values

On our 60th anniversary, we talk to Lady Grenfell Baines, the widow of our founder Sir George (GG), about the history of the practice since its establishment in Preston in 1961. She talks about GG’s relationship with Walter Gropius, the cultural significance of BDP in the north of England and the influence of the practice on modern architectural and engineering methods today.

Hello Milena and thank you for taking the time to speak with us. You met GG in the 1950s, before BDP was established, so how did you meet and what was life like in the early days of the practice?

Lady Grenfell Baines

In the Jewish religion it is common to have a shadchan, a matchmaker who introduces the bride to the bridegroom. Funnily enough, it was my father who introduced me to George. I had just come back from France, where I had worked as an au pair for two years. My father said he had met a man at the Preston film society who I might quite like and it took a couple of years before he proposed but the rest is history! At the time the practice was known as Grenfell Baines and Hargreaves and the studio was in a narrow street in Preston above a row of shops – and it was all open plan. Even back then George was very keen on natural health and he organised a masseur to come to the studio on a weekly basis. Some people might have thought it a bit odd but George was way ahead of his time when it came to the wellbeing of his people.

The practice was always very sociable. In the summers there were regular picnics, and in those days, the young members of staff would go out the day before and lay a trail out into the countryside, which usually led to a place by a river where we would all meet to swim and play games. Everyone was given a map and brought their families along. We had some wonderful times!

GG and the founding partners famously met at Bryn Mor in Anglesey to officially launch Building Design Partnership, as it was then. Do you recall this moment? Yes indeed – George and all the partners met at Bryn Mor, the holiday home for the practice, in April 1961. Thoughts about a new name for the practice were being aired and a decision was made to call it Design Partnership, but it was discovered there was another company with an identical name. I don’t know who had the idea to add the Building but that’s what it became. Some members did not want to change the name as Grenfell Baines and Hargreaves was already well known. However George knew that there were many gifted people in the practice and didn’t want to attribute the work to just one or two single names. Everyone was to be recognised as an individual in an environment which brought everybody together. Back then GG said that they were planning for the future. Do you think he would be pleased with the direction of the practice today? It was always about continual improvement and growing the business as a collective. George was always confident, very optimistic and would always say “keep going, getting better.” He had tremendous faith in the practice and its people and he would certainly be proud now. What was BDP like during the 1960s – the people, the ethos, and the atmosphere of the practice? The studios were always busy and bustling. For a time, I worked in the print shop below the studio in Vernon Street in Preston and you can only imagine how active it was. You don’t get ‘double elephant’ sized paper anymore but that was what I used to work with, printing, folding, and rolling drawings. It was so successful that occasionally we were printing drawings for

Younger George with beer

Progressive Places

Hugh Casson’s ‘Thank You’ letter

George was invited to design the Power and Production Pavilion for the Festival of Britain, the only northern architect asked to do so, and met the engineer Felix Samuely – who designed the Skylon. Felix was also a refugee, originally from Vienna, and from that meeting they collaborated together on a number of buildings. Eventually Felix became godfather to our son George.

Published 1965

What relationship did GG and BDP have with the RIBA?

other firms! Vernon Street was a meeting place for the great and good of architecture and engineering in the north of England. In the mid-sixties Frank Lord made a number of films about the practice. Once they closed Fishergate for about ten minutes so that he could film a car driving down the road with a group of smartly dressed BDP architects running after it – I’d love to see those films today; they really gave a sense of what it was like to be part of the BDP team. We have copies of letters to GG from other famous architects. What relationship did GG have with other firms – was it competitive or collaborative? I remember when we would holiday at Bryn Mor, we were quite close to the architect Donald Gibson and his family, we would often go for walks together.

Well, the idea to create a interdisciplinary practice didn’t go down too well with the RIBA. I’m not saying the relationship was standoffish but George knew that many architects thought of themselves with a capital ‘A’. He learned about construction and building before he learned about architecture and he always felt that builders and engineers and clients should be involved together from the outset. He was influenced by Walter Gropius, his style and the idea of merging professions. George met Walter in Cambridge when he was giving lectures in various universities throughout the USA. George asked Gropius’ secretary for a meeting and was told he could have ten minutes. They spent more than three hours together that day! What was it like when Preston Bus Station was being built and how did you feel all those years later when the local and national community stepped in to prevent its demolition?

I’ve kept a wonderful letter from Hugh Casson to George thanking him for his visit, the concert he attended in Preston – and the Lancashire cheese I gave him!

Very sadly, soon after the bus station opened it was the victim of vandalism. There was a splendid carpeted waiting room and glass showcases along the length of the station where local shops could display their goods. Unfortunately they were all smashed and never replaced. I’m so glad to see that the building has been so well restored. There is a splendid piazza outside – the council has excelled itself in making the bus station the most popular building in Preston.

Power and Production Pavilion, Festival of Britain

Everyone was in competition but over the years we met a lot of the UK’s eminent architects. The RIBA in London has names on a plaque of all of the past presidents and I knew many of them. George set up regular visits for famous architects to the school of architecture in Sheffield, so they would often come and stay with us. George was a very good after dinner speaker and was very much in demand amongst his peers so he made many connections.

Charlie Wilson and Keith Ingham were the lead architects and although George was absolutely involved, the ethos of the practice was such that these talented architects were given free reign over the design. They used to have design sessions on every building but ultimately, the lead designer would have the final say.

Lady Grenfell Baines

People are starting to realise what a splendid building this is, even though now only half of it is being used as an actual station. It has stood the test of time and I am proud that the local community feels a sense of ownership. It has also been classed as one of the thousand buildings one should see in one’s lifetime. BDP built a new studio in Vernon Street in 1968 which was modelled on the radical Bürolandschaft open plan idea. What impact did that have on the teams? When the practice outgrew the original studio in Preston we found the ex-furniture store at Vernon Street, but we couldn’t afford it as the bank would not lend us the extra money. George had the idea to ask if any member of the firm would like to contribute towards costs with, of course, a very good interest in return. Within a week staff had offered £25,000, which was enough to buy the premises. At that time Vernon Street was the first Bürolandschaft office space in Britain. It was quite a radical open plan format but George made sure he had his own office – the only one! I remember vividly that we had a lovely green carpet and a lot of plants. Fashion flourished and there was a good feeling of camaraderie. Vernon Street also became a cultural venue – can you tell us more about some of the performers who came there? When past chairman Keith Scott was travelling around the United States, he discovered that the American architect Frank Lloyd Wright would regularly organise classical music sessions in his office. The BDP partners agreed to Keith’s proposal and purchased a particularly good piano – a must to attract top musicians. We became known as the BDP Music Society, hosting some of the most famous musicians in the world. Roger Park, father of Nick Park of Wallace and Gromit fame, was our photographer and he captured every visiting artist. Keith would offer excellent hospitality, including a stay at his own holiday home in the Lake District. Violinist Nigel Kennedy played, as did pianists such as Alfred Brendel, András Schiff, and Dimitri Alexeev; 40 years of international performers visited Preston to play and enjoy an evening socialising afterwards. Once a month I took charge of preparing supper for our audience of 200+ who, having invariably enjoyed the evening,

George Grenfell Baines, centre, with colleagues (1959)

would depart only when we switched the lights off. What aspect of architecture today would GG be most interested in? Well, he was always thinking with a socialist and progressive hat on. He designed a lot of housing in the early days but winning the Pilgrim Hospital in Boston in 1961 really pushed the practice in a new direction. With healthcare, he always believed that there should be a doctor or nurse on the design team to steer the architects in the right direction and stimulate new ideas. He needed to hear from the people who were going to use the building day in, day out. You and GG travelled quite a lot and must have met some people and seen some buildings which inspired you both – can you tell us any that particularly stood out?

George was quite impressed and surprised when we travelled through old Czechoslovakia. We saw buildings by Adolf Loos, designs by Mies van der Rohe and he was amazed and surprised by some of the very modern architecture in Russia, where he went on a two month lecture tour. He returned from that trip with 2,000 slides of buildings which had never been illustrated in any architectural magazines in the UK. This was in 1971 and unbelievably at no time was he ever stopped from taking a photo. GG was a trailblazer. One of the things he did was set up the Design Teaching Practice in Sheffield. Why did he do this? It was pioneering. He felt students needed to get experience working on real buildings, so he opened a small studio in Sheffield. He had an architect in charge but the staff were students working on real projects; he called it Design Teaching Practice. The BDP studio in Sheffield grew from that. Having worked from the age of 14 for a quantity surveyor, attending night school to learn about buildings, working as a draughtsman in the county architects’ office and not starting university until he was 25, he found himself streets ahead on some subjects. He achieved three years’ study in just two, went on to win the Heyward Medal and for his final thesis entered a global competition for Parliament buildings in what was then Rhodesia – much against the advice of his tutor. He won the third prize of £350, which as he said, was enough to open his own studio in his parents’ front room. He was brilliant at mental arithmetic, using his slide ruler, (I wonder if anyone knows what that is) and had absolutely no trouble in converting inches to centimetres. GG said, “Take responsibility where you see it.” What advice would you have for young designers today and the future leaders of the practice? To appreciate another person’s point of view. ‘Responsibility, recognition and reward’ was the mantra George lived by and I can tell you, it worked. Listening and being interested in other people was absolutely in George’s nature and it is clear that has filtered through to the personality of the practice today. Keep going, keep getting better.

George Grenfell Baines at a music society event

Progressive Places

Ideas

Future Trends

Augustine Hill, Galway – the renaissance of the high street

The hyperlocal high street. Will it take off?

A hybrid model combining office-based and remote working is expected to last well beyond the pandemic, so hyperlocal high streets should experience something of a renaissance. With so many people working from home, coupled with a huge movement to support independent businesses, neighbourhood shops, restaurants and cafes have really come into their own, and this trend looks set to grow. Expect pop-up hubs providing office equipment such as printers and photocopiers to serve home workers, a rise in the popularity of co-working and the launch of small satellite offices in outlying areas. Akshay Khera

Cultural Hub, Singapore – multi-generational space

Mixed-use city centres… but how about multigenerational too?

For city centres the story is a very different one. We all know the major impact this year has had on the retail sector. The shift to mixed-use city centres was already taking place with a much greater emphasis on housing and, as the number of empty retail units increases, the events of this past year will catapult this trend forward. What is interesting is the change in demographic with homes built, not just with young professionals in mind, but older people too, encouraging diversity and different terms of engagement, with multifaceted benefits for mental health and wellbeing.

Wellbeing – the buzzword of 2020. Will 2021 be the year it becomes truly measurable?

Sheffield Hallam University – green spaces

There is no doubt that this year has given us cause to reevaluate our priorities and the same applies to the workplace. We expect to see significant shifts in the expectations of the workforce; they will vote with their feet and go elsewhere if employers do not deliver high quality, flexible working environments. This applies to all sectors – traditional workplaces, together with others such as healthcare and education. We predict wellbeing will become more readily and easily measurable in 2021. The requirements identified in The Well Certification – think BREEAM for wellness – will increasingly influence design. Progressive Places

“First Life, then Spaces, then Buildings” Singapore – rethinking public space

As Danish urban designer Jan Gehl neatly summarised, design starts with people and how they live. The spaces and places they inhabit comes next, and only after this are the buildings considered. If 2020 has taught us anything, it’s that social interaction is a basic human need. New communities of homes with an appealing public realm, proximity to green spaces and convivial multi-purpose community hubs are essential for successful urban living, and there is always room for improvement. The pandemic has highlighted the fragility of our healthcare system and the critical need to focus on keeping the population fit by encouraging people to take responsibility for their own health. Emerging community diagnostic hubs can help keep people away from hospitals; healthcare of the future starts at home and this must be fundamental to every design approach.

Workplace in a new avatar

There has been a fundamental shift in the way we work this year. Global businesses like ours have harnessed their connectivity to enable collaboration across studios traversing various time zones. Companies may consider satellite town ‘spokes’ to enable small teams to work together as a cost-effective alternative to maintaining a city centre HQ, Our approach thus reducing travel and carbon footprint. Offices will still be needed, but in a new avatar. Rows of desks will make space for flexible, collaborative team zones. The importance of wellness, coupled with a hybrid way of working, will impact positively on employees and the environment. Constraints can offer new opportunities.

The Emotional Workplace The emotional aspects of work, culture, wellbeing, social capital and trust

The Purposeful Workplace

1 The Physical Workplace The future of physical offices, evolving roles and purpose and what form they will take

The Technological Workplace How technology will foster new business models, ways to work and employee and customer experiences

The ingredients of future workspace

Akshay Khera

Evolving leadership ideas, organisational models, values and employee engagement

Bata Shoe Factory – reimagined for housing

Original Bata Shoe Factory (1941)

Will 2021 be the year low carbon reaches the top of the agenda?

We are reaching the tipping point in tackling climate change this year. The provenance and footprint of a building or infrastructure matters more than ever before. The net zero agenda is at the forefront of everything we so. Why build new when you can retrofit or refurbish? The concept of the circular economy is rightly taking greater precedence.

Wardle Academy – a new school built within a disused gym

Progressive Places

Happy Anniversary Dublin Studio David Brennan

Augustine Hill, Galway – green esplanade

Head of Dublin Studio

The Dublin studio has been a busy design hub for half of our 60 year history. As a cosmopolitan and progressive European capital it has been a terrific base to grow an interdisciplinary team of architects, urbanists and engineers connected to Ireland’s culture and identity.

We are placemakers; quite literally, creating people centred neighbourhoods with connected urban spaces and new green infrastructure for communities to enjoy – at city, town and village scale. One of our largest projects to date is Bonham Quay in Galway – the precursor to Augustine Hill – which together make up a new waterfront community reconnecting the historic city with its maritime setting. Dockside creative workspace, city centre living (including our tallest building yet) and a series of new spaces for leisure, including a green hill esplanade, the scheme adopts One Planet principles to embed truly sustainable thinking. 24

Over 30 years we have treasured our lasting relationships with clients and collaborators. The masterplan for the University of Limerick, a green, connected, student-centred environment which won the Best Irish Student Campus award several times, reflects our enduring and creative partnership. Education has been a very important and rewarding aspect of our work. Together with schools, we have worked with the most significant third level education campuses throughout Ireland.

David Brennan

Bon Secours Healthcare Village, Cork

A recent focus for the studio is the drive towards liveable towns and cities; mixed communities and social neighbourhoods. Designing compact scale aparthotels such as the small but clever Wren Hotel has been a rewarding design challenge and we currently have 600 apartments in design. Post-Covid we look forward to inviting clients, collaborators, creatives, students, local entrepreneurs and interested parties to join us at our home in Smithfield in the heart of Dublin. We are committed to debating the issues that matter, such as climate change, social value and providing better housing and healthcare; we want to share ideas about ways to shape our cities and towns to improve quality of life.

Wren Hotel, Dublin

National Gallery of Ireland, Dublin

Our work in healthcare has advanced; from Bon Secours Healthcare Village, nestling in the green hills above Cork, we are now busily collaborating with the practice’s wider healthcare team on Dublin Children’s Hospital, one of the largest social infrastructure projects in the country. A city scale project in its own right, the design breaks down the staggering metrics of this nationally important project into a sensitive series of human scale experiences for the children, their families and the staff. At circa 300 metres, the biggest rooftop garden in Ireland is over double the length of the pitch at Croke Park and forms the centrepiece of the building – symbolically as well as physically – aiding the children’s recovery as an essential part of their patient journey. As leaders in sustainable design, the studio has won more than 40 awards and has delivered some of Ireland’s exemplary low energy buildings, including the zero carbon Wren Hotel in Dublin city centre. The culmination of a decade of thinking is the soon to be completed Electricity Supply Board Headquarters. The circular economy is giving rise to rethinking building use, such as in Drogheda where civic offices are being reimagined as creative hubs. At Coonagh Cross in Limerick an abandoned shopping centre is being converted into a sustainable educational facility for future engineers with maker space to foster alliances between industry and education.

Aparthotel, Dublin

Our ambition is to continue to produce innovative world class designs focused around people, and to ensure that Ireland continues to progress through sustainable means as the best-in-class European experience from education to workplace, wellbeing, work-life balance, health and environmental quality. Come and join or visit us; we are ready to offer that famous Irish welcome.

As well as working on our own interdisciplinary projects, our established thought leadership on future-proofing buildings against climate change has helped crystallise best practice and disseminate ideas, leading to diverse commissions with external architectural practices. The refurbishment of the iconic National Gallery of Ireland achieved energy performance levels comparable with any newly constructed art gallery within the confines of a protected heritage structure.

Progressive Places

Augustine Hill, Galway – a new community enhancing quality of life

People-Centred Placemaking

Andrew Panniker, Managing Director Royal Free London Property Services

During 2020, BDP worked closely with the NHS as it battled admirably throughout the Covid-19 pandemic. As we salute all those key workers, we talk to Andrew Panniker, managing director of Royal Free London Property Services and ask him how he thinks the pandemic will affect the future of healthcare properties and the NHS.

Crisis, Care and Collaboration Hi Andrew, thanks for speaking with us. 2020 was a very testing year for all at the NHS. What has last year taught you and how do you think we can prepare healthcare estates for the future? The Covid-19 pandemic sparked an enormous collaborative effort between built environment experts and healthcare professionals to design and adapt facilities to help care for, and cure so many people. Creating hospitals that accommodate the new operational realities of a postCovid-19 world has brought about a new era for healthcare design. In many respects, traditional tramline thinking and rule books must be thrown out of the window so we can respond to demands for new flexible and adaptable healthcare facilities that demonstrate real value, improve quality and reduce the cost of health services. I think part of that means preparing well for the next pandemic which, we are advised, is unfortunately inevitable. We need to provide the environment and equipment to ensure that our doctors and

nurses can deliver the care needed even better than they did in the last year. We also need to look out for staff wellbeing. Could we improve the patient experience and achieve better outcomes? Could we ease the pressure, make the staffing experience smoother and invest more in existing hospital infrastructure to make the NHS more resilient? It’s fantastic that there is a new Healthcare Infrastructure Plan underway to upgrade 40+ hospitals and the design, adaptability and system transformation needs careful thought. Lots of people are talking about modern methods of construction and the ability to standardise and deliver quickly, but they also need to be flexible to respond to ever-changing clinical demands. I know BDP is doing a lot of work in this field and is in a prime position to set the standards and establish the direction for more adaptable healthcare facilities. When we think about how hospitals could be built in the future, we can build in standard design and repeatability. The framing of a building like this would allow ‘pick and mix’ clinical People-Centred Placemaking

pod use that could be changed out, as and when clinical priorities or intensity of use changes. Going forward we need the time to think and plan; we have to look at and test everything from clinical environments, supply chains, PPE, cleaning services, general supplies and even food provision. It’s no small task. How do you think businesses in the built environment can work more effectively with the NHS to support it in the future? Collaboration really was the industry buzzword in 2020 and I have worked closely with the supply chain, numerous organisations, businesses and even the military to help me to respond to the crisis. During the pandemic, it was the collaboration between individuals who had never worked together, and their ability to move at speed and adapt, that impressed me. They worked to a relentless drumbeat, translating multiple voices and opinions into new ideas. 29

Building a new hospital or reconfiguring an existing one is incredibly complex, which means we need to be even more conscious of making both the big and small decisions at the right time. It is essential that a collaborative approach and streamlined decision making are at the forefront of all new hospital projects. All those engaged in healthcare estate management, design and construction must find a way to embrace the real collaboration that incentivises everyone to share knowledge and innovations across multiple NHS projects. We have the opportunity to deliver the most cutting-edge healthcare facilities of the future.

consideration. We cannot afford to work in silos or see everything as a competition. We have a duty to see public money spent wisely and make a step change in clinical productivity. Our behaviours need to change; our obstacles need to be better defined and collectively navigated without losing sight of the ambition.

By sharing design, production and build information with the whole supply chain, we can ensure hospitals are delivered on time, with the precise facilities that are required to support both patients and staff and then adapt them when the patient needs change.

How do you think healthcare facilities will change? How could the UK’s infrastructure of care be optimised for the future?

Historically, build contracts are formed around conflict, risk management and negotiation. This needs to change and contract from choice needs really careful

When we were in the thick of the pandemic, it was wonderful to see everyone looking out for each other’s wellbeing – both on site and in the wider communities. I think that network of care will be the legacy of our work in 2020 and something we want to replicate on all future NHS projects.

The staff of the NHS are the pride of the nation. We must invest in people and facilities, but we should start with public health initiatives to reduce the burden on our healthcare systems. We’ve got to address the challenges – obesity, diabetes, mental health and other chronic illnesses,

Andrew Panniker

focusing on research and working with the relevant organisations to understand these emerging and existing issues. We need to look, in depth, at how to sustain improvement in the health of the nation at the same time we look at the buildings. During the pandemic the staffing response was fantastic. Everyone in the system coped with relentless flows of sick patients and unprecedented deaths in some ageing buildings and infrastructure. At the Royal Free London, whilst the infrastructure was good, we had to continually adapt and reinforce all the electrics, gases and the general systems to meet the massive change in intensity of use and clinical need. We now have breathing space to not only look at the NHS’s infrastructure, but wider public health in more granular detail, extending our reach across cities to make more facilities available for specialist and emergency care situations.

The NHS is still used as an exemplar for healthcare facilities across the world. How do we ensure facilities continue to be world-class? From an estates perspective, transformation relies on inspiring people and reshaping perceptions of the NHS as an employer. If we want to attract the best talent we need to excite potential recruits. The need to design spaces for NHS staff so they feel looked after and valued has always been important but it’s now rising up the agenda further. From career development to environments conducive to relaxation, we need to create places where staff feel truly valued as this will really help the NHS move forward. Concurrently, the NHS must build real partnerships with commercial and professional service providers. I know that BDP has experience in designing a whole range of different buildings and environments and transfers best practice from other sectors to help produce better hospitals, thus transforming the way patients receive care. We must be confident in harvesting best practice from other industries, to adapt traditional designs and standards. Royal Free London Property Services has recently employed a number of people from the aviation industry and manufacturing engineering facilities. Their knowledge and experience of designing, processing and managing high volumes of people or products through buildings or manufacturing process quickly converts really well to healthcare, and it has

NHS Nightingale Hospital, London

challenged the way we think and improved our routine service response and design solutions. Similarly, we look at how the education sector has cracked the use of standardised design for manufacture and assembly. They can deliver schools quickly and with certainty of timing and cost – and this system is very appealing. To do this we need to engage in collaborative partnership arrangements with the design, manufacture and build supply chain to allow us to build smarter, quicker, more efficiently and in a way that really is adaptable to change. Investing in staff is also key to improving resilience, safety and quality of care. We have to rebalance the number of people coming

into healthcare as data indicates there are more people leaving through the back door than coming through the front door. Our experience in 2020 has taught us that we need to deliver innovative change – at speed – not only for the new hospital programme but also within the existing estates. As we emerge from the Covid-19 crisis, the reputation of the NHS remains strong, but investment, innovation and trust is what will guarantee the future of this amazing institution and make sure that it is always there in the right form, whenever it is needed.

[Left] Watford General Hospital – new healthy living community. [Right] Watford General Hospital – concept ideagram

People-Centred Placemaking

Kings Mall Shopping Centre, Hammersmith – Community Hub, Learning Lab Space, an Ikea initiative to engage the community

IKEA Hacking Wall

Exhibition Wall

Welcome Area

Moveable Play Area

Reconfiguring Retail Architect director, Garry Wilding assesses the seismic shift in the retail industry in recent years and how a global pandemic, technology and the economy has changed the way we shop. 32

Garry Wilding

Even before the pandemic struck early in 2020, the way we shopped, spent our leisure time and worked was changing, driven predominantly by technology. Like it or not, the pandemic has accelerated and intensified this societal reconfiguration. Arguably, the retail landscape has undergone the most painful and seismic level of change as ecommerce takes centre stage. Big names such as Debenhams and Topshop have shut their doors and others are rethinking how they operate in response to the new world we live in. John Lewis’s announcement that some stores will not reopen in 2021 is a direct expression of how they intend to change their business model, on the basis they believe 60–70% of their sales will eventually stem from online activity. The question of how retailers maintain a strong connection with, and grow their customer base is still to be answered. One thing is sure; they will still need a physical space to create connections and build brand loyalty. What does this mean for our town and cities? It’s fascinating to think of just how much built fabric has been (and will be) released to the market through chain closures and physical store contractions. This quantum of space will allow us to reconsider how large parts of our city and town centres function. The introduction of planning class E will provide more flexibility to adapt to demand, while the recent change to Permitted Development rights allowing conversion of class E to residential has the potential to bring more living space rapidly to our urban centres. We must seize this opportunity to make changes that could generate stronger, more active, vibrant, mixed and, ultimately, sustainable places.

Kings Mall Shopping Centre and Housing Estate, Hammersmith – today

Localism is the word of the moment. We are becoming acquainted with our neighbourhoods more than ever before. As social distancing measures ease, there will be a renaissance of strong local centres with the ingredients to respond to our needs on a more agile basis. Even when restrictions are lifted, some commuters will still opt to work from home for part of the working week and this offers huge opportunities for gyms, cafes, flexible workspaces, restaurants and even retail to thrive. The challenge now is to discover how retail will evolve to stay relevant in an uncertain future. Hammersmith is a great example of where we are working to create something important for local people, the reinvention of a 1970s shopping centre as a welcoming, naturalised

Kings Mall Shopping Centre, Hammersmith – working with the local community to improve quality of life

People-Centred Placemaking

meeting place. A busy centre in west London with excellent transportation links to central London, the transport hub historically buzzes with commuters every morning and evening, an ecosystem of life and business. The project with Ingka at Kings Mall began before the pandemic and even then we were focusing on the needs and desires of the proximate community, understanding what was important to them and what was needed to create a successful new place. To be clear, we are not just enlivening a shopping centre; our goal is to build a strong and vibrant heart for Hammersmith, a welcoming, inclusive space for social interaction, experiential shopping, ‘retailtainment’, eating, drinking, learning, fun and relaxation. A place that the community identifies with, feels part of and genuinely cares for; a place of true, meaningful social cohesion. With Westfield, the behemoth of retail just a mile up the road, the small local centre could not compete with the retail, leisure and food and beverage offering, together with the new homes, offices and education developments that surround it. However, with the support of a progressive client, we pursued a counterpoint to the international shopping destination, based on listening to and understanding the needs of the local community. We wanted to create something that felt original and purposeful for people who would use it regularly. Our design uses natural materials and biophilic design. A set of amphitheatre steps is at the heart of the development,

enabling events, meeting friends and taking a rest from hectic lives. These steps link the street level with a large public space above: a piece of green urban tranquillity in a frenetic location, designed to stimulate a sense of wellbeing and a feeling of inclusion and belonging. More than a shopping destination, the spaces will be used for yoga sessions, boxercise classes and for IKEA, it’s an opportunity to hold furniture hacking classes, along with other community driven educational initiatives, to add experience and build customer loyalty. Our retail spaces are being reimagined as local, social and cultural hubs across the UK. Former department stores are perfectly placed to be transformed into new homes or offices – ideally a mix of both – coupled with experiential retail and other community focused uses. This is a great opportunity to repopulate our city centres and in doing so, activate them throughout the day and night. These are interesting times. With the potential to redefine our cities and town centres for many years, comes the opportunity to redeem some of the failings of previous generations to occupy and invest in our urban centres. Through considered and innovative thinking we are able to generate a more joined up and sustainable model of development. Although it’s a time of change for retail as we know it, it’s also a time for transformation, to make significant decisions that will benefit us all in the long term.

Kings Mall Shopping Centre, Hammersmith – a new urban space typology

Garry Wilding

Kings Mall Shopping Centre, Hammersmith – reclaiming the oil tank space for new uses; a space that embodies a myriad activities as the day evolves

People-Centred Placemaking

Garry Wilding

Hammersmith drawing (Mileni Pamfili)

People-Centred Placemaking

Oxford Street – enhancing biodiversity

The impact of the Covid-19 pandemic could last for years. The UK’s embattled high streets were already in crisis before the national lockdown and now find themselves having to adapt and futureproof further. We asked Nick Edwards, chair of landscape architecture, how can our high streets successfully reinvent themselves?

What’s in Store for our High Streets? 38

Nick Edwards

Could we see new types of high streets emerging?

How has the pandemic changed the thinking around design of high streets? From a public realm perspective, we are seeing extensive interest in enhancing the setting for retail environments. We are providing more places for people to dwell, incorporating green infrastructure, promoting more sustainable modes of transport and encouraging retail to engage with and trade within the surrounding environment. For example, the collaboration between The Crown Estate, Westminster City Council and their design team resulted in an outstanding solution for a necessary temporary enhancement to Regent Street. The new layout safely supports pedestrian movement and the lush greening and new seating improves the shopping experience in one of London’s most famous retail destinations.

Yes. People will demand more from their high streets and there will be an increased understanding that they are not about streamlining exchanges with consumers but much more about providing a holistic experience. High streets will be increasingly seen as places with character, somewhere you can receive a high quality of service, where people can congregate, meet a friend, listen to a band, watch a performance, take some exercise, have something to eat or drink. What could be done with the unused space that we may end up with? There will be an element of rebalancing. Excess space could be used for housing, for craftspeople, services or a broad range of complementary uses. The high street would become all the richer were it to provide a broader range of local (and potentially global) products, a convenient food and beverage

offer, internal and external markets, food halls, leisure uses, or tailored services, with smaller diverse businesses commandeering potentially characterful buildings and spaces. How should we prepare for other future challenges? Whilst many streets are being reconfigured to enable social distancing during the current pandemic, we have to recognise that many of our footways are too constricted to facilitate social interaction; a beneficial legacy might be one where more people can walk side by side and converse. Additional advantages in widening pavements include reducing the visual dominance of carriageways and making them easier to cross, leaving more space for buildings to physically and visually engage with the public realm and, by reducing the width from one footway to another, encouraging greater eye contact and interaction between people and activities across the street and throughout the civic centre.

Are there particular typologies that are being considered or adopted for the future?

Rapid transformation of Regent Street – greener, cleaner, safer

Local retail and locations that focus on quality of experience are likely to fare best under current and future conditions. With more people working from home and using shops, cafes and other retail services in their immediate vicinity, we are likely to see a strengthening of communityfocused neighbourhoods. Whilst there is a strong argument for why out of town might succeed with so many people travelling by car, the government will ultimately grasp the nettle and recognise that there needs to be a major overhaul in its application of business rates and its support for unsustainable densities and modes of movement.

People-Centred Placemaking

Ideas

The Arish Pocket

Study models

Aysha Alhashimi and Moza Al Mansoori

Prototype

The humble palm tree: one of the best known and most widely planted tree families in the world, they have been used by humans since the dawn of civilisation, more than 5,000 years ago. Ubiquitous to the United Arab Emirates, they hold a significant value among Emiratis, connected by culture and tradition. They have been a major material source, from building houses to making small items of furniture, and in our recent winning entry for the Surge competition Design for a Better Future we have reimagined their use as The Arish Pocket. Surge provides safe water and hygiene solutions in a world where 2,300 people die every day because of inadequate drinking water and sanitation. The Arish Pocket creates a sustainable design made from nature by recycling date palm trees. Light and durable, merging tradition and function with a modern twist, it is made by weaving palm leaves together and using palm fibres to stitch them to the rachis for strength and stability. Not only is it totally biodegradable but it also reduces biomass waste. Handmade and costless, it promotes and celebrates the local weaving tradition that has been perpetuated by the local females for thousands of years. As well as improving quality of life through this new invention, we hope that our design will help to reduce poverty by passing this weaving technique on to future generations.

The Arish Pocket’s shape is inspired by the traditional Arish patterns and by the vernacular houses made from palm trees in the UAE. We have given it identity by covering it with a Sadu; an optional element which can be excluded or replaced with another material such as leather, cotton or silk. It can be easily repurposed by cutting the stitches and reforming the structure into a new design or object directly derived from the Arish pattern. The UAE has about 40 million date palms, each generating about 15 kilograms of waste biomass annually. Our design can reduce waste from palms in most of the continents of the world, particularly in developing countries, and can help those in need while collectively advocating for a future where the world lives in greater harmony with nature. The Arish Pocket collected three awards from the Surge competition. We plan to take the concept a step further and set up a small business to make and sell the Arish Pocket, donating any profits to charity.

People-Centred Placemaking

Arish Pocket in use

The concept is quick to implement and easy to deploy. It is a long lasting material that maintains good condition in a harsh environment and is easy to repair. The design creates a portable and convenient multifunctional product that can be used in the desert, on the beach, indoors or outdoors. It is designed to be reconfigured to serve as a bed, mat, table, single or double chair. It can be carried comfortably and, by simply folding and rotating, easily adapts to the user’s needs. It will make small spaces truly practical and useful. 41

2020 forced rapid changes in technology, social engagement, networks of care and working practices. We caught up with Benedict Zucchi, chair of architecture, to find out how design for specialist paediatric and complex care requires agility, creativity and practicality.

Progressive Paediatrics

Dublin Children’s Hospital

Healthcare design is becoming a niche profession as we continue to respond to the specific needs of patients. What do you see as the biggest changes in hospital design, especially given the events of the last year?

In today’s healthcare sector there are two counter-tendencies at work: one of greater specialisation, with dedicated hospitals devoted, for example, to emergency care, cancer or children, and the other to a more flexible provision of services, either through adaptable estates or adopting a hub and spoke model with greater emphasis on dispersed smaller-scale community facilities. This last trend is being accelerated by the pandemic which has proven the potential of telemedicine and thus the viability of a more decentralised approach to patient care. Benedict Zucchi

We have helped a number of Trusts to develop estate masterplans with the express aim of incorporating buildings that can be adapted to different uses or leased to other organisations as an income stream. Hand in hand with this, urban hospital sites are consciously shedding their image as healthcare silos to achieve a better mix of uses, including spaces for learning, research, retail, senior living and community activities.

How do you introduce light, views, outdoor space and biophilic design for young patients? The integration of landscape is vital for a welcoming ambience that helps to distract children and destress family visits. For example, as one approaches the new Alder Hey Children’s Hospital, the first impression is of a gentle grassy knoll rising out of Springfield Park, its scale no higher than the existing trees. Its hilly, undulating profile makes the new building instantly recognisable. Central to our concept was giving the majority of rooms (for children and staff) park views and ensuring that gardens and terraces are accessible to all, so that one can step outside very easily from all parts of the hospital within a secure environment. This integration with the park in crosssection is further reinforced by the building’s plan form. This is composed of three open ‘fingers’ that radiate out from the atrium concourse that forms the public hub. These fingers of clinical space alternate with gardens, intertwining building and landscape like two hands embracing. The long elevations of the fingers are orientated broadly north-south, which is ideal for passive energy design, ensuring good daylighting, ventilation and views to all patient areas, particularly the wards on the upper two storeys. This passive design approach, together with the green roofs and a number of active engineering systems, ensures that we contain the hospital’s energy consumption and CO2 emissions.

Alder Hey Children’s Health Park

How does architecture influence the construction of children’s hospitals and what makes them distinct from a general hospital? Architecture has a hugely significant role to play in transcending the merely utilitarian to produce an environment that is intrinsically therapeutic and can contribute to the healing process through its physical qualities. Key to this is breaking down the scale of what are often very large buildings into visually distinct elements; even more important in a children’s hospital where more than

half the patients are under the age of ten. Child and family-centred identity is the overriding principle at the heart of paediatric models of care, from their external form and scale through to the quality of the buildings’ public spaces, bedrooms, interior finishes, play and learning spaces. Central to this challenge is accommodating the broad age range of patients – from toddlers through to older teenagers – in ways that avoid the Disneyesque and have a timeless appeal, not just to the patients but also to families, staff and visitors.

People-Centred Placemaking

This emphasis on landscape integration continues in our design for the New Children’s Hospital in Dublin, currently under construction, which incorporates one of Europe’s largest ever green roofs, destined to become a very distinctive presence on the Dublin skyline.

Dublin Children’s Hospital

arrangement between the bedrooms, as opposed to the typical hotelstyle arrangement, has a number of advantages: it gives patients unimpeded views to the outside, maximising daylight and fresh air; full width sliding glass doors to the corridor benefit staff observation and allow families and patients to connect visually with the life of the ward, preserving something of the sociability of the old multi-bed wards; but interstitial blinds within the doors also give them the choice of complete privacy. What does the industry need to build major hospitals with the necessary knowhow and infrastructure to deal with acute public health issues? How important is user engagement in the design process and how do we maximise feedback? In all hospital projects, engaging meaningfully with patients is a challenge. In a paediatric hospital the challenge is even greater because this group encompasses such a broad age range (from neonates, toddlers and children through to young adults) and includes parents and relatives. Our experience suggests there is no single prescription for successful engagement but rather we tailor an approach to each project. A concept that people can identify with is fundamental, but it must be flexible enough to respond to comment. If participation is to be meaningful, the design must be able to evolve, sometimes quite radically, without undermining the overall integrity of the selected concept and the project’s momentum. To address this, our concepts follow what might be called an urban design approach, breaking down the scale of the hospital into a series of smaller elements associated with different departments, or ‘buildings within the building’. At Dublin’s New Children’s Hospital for example, the wards are housed within a distinct oval building wrapped around a large central garden. This early design decision meant that the ward layout could be refined progressively with users over a two-year engagement process without hindering the parallel process of engagement with other departments. 44

How do you design a hospital environment that emotionally supports the child and their family through the patient journey? We design places that feel welcoming and memorable whilst preserving a reassuring feeling of familiarity for those who need regular or constant care. By challenging preconceptions we can be creative with inspiring outcomes; our designs are fun, surprising and decidedly non-institutional, without resorting to cliché. At Alder Hey Hospital in Liverpool we played with scale in an Alice in Wonderland way, altering perspectives to appear deceptively small and acquiring affectionate nicknames, like Hobbit Hill. Our concept is faithful to the Trust’s vision of a children’s health park, which has a much more profound and universal appeal, related to landscape, ecology and healthy living.

Healthcare knowhow within the construction industry is already very mature, having benefitted from the very high level of investment made in new hospitals in the UK over the last 20 years. Addressing acute public health issues, however, is not simply a question of building more capacity. Equally important is the inclusion of flexible features that allow hospitals to be adapted quickly when required; for example, by making single bedrooms the norm so that infectious patients can be contained and rooms can be quickly converted for higher acuity cases. If car parks are designed with medical gas and electrical infrastructure, as in many other countries, they can be used for beds in field hospital mode.

How do we design for diverse but specific patient requirements and ensure hospitals remain flexible enough for change or future public health crises? Standardisation of key rooms is essential. We have identified about 20 rooms which typically account for more than 80% of a hospital’s clinical requirements. Over several years we have perfected a standard single bedroom typology which we believe offers the optimum balance between what are often competing priorities. Placing bathrooms in a back to back Benedict Zucchi

Concept sketch for a large urban hospital

Hospitals are complicated buildings that require technical and programmatic considerations. How do we balance this with the need for creative space, materiality, form and identity? This may sound paradoxical but the key is not to become too expert! Critical perspective, or a certain detachment, is important to bring a fresh pair of eyes to challenges and avoid overly formulaic solutions. Our first designs for children’s hospitals benefitted most from our extensive experience of designing schools. Although there is much in common between all hospital clients or different clinical specialisms, successful places, like successful teams, draw their strength from the particular culture and aspirations of a group of people. It is our role as architects to use our broader experience of hospital design to resolve requirements through specific creative solutions. This not only addresses the important issue of identity but also acts as the spur to innovation through meaningful engagement.

Great Ormond Street Hospital

Dublin Children’s Hospital

People-Centred Placemaking

Tianyi Gu, architect director, explains how our plans for the redevelopment of an early 20th century power plant are set to reinvigorate an important and historical industrial area on the edge of Shanghai.

Powerful Placemaking Tianyi Gu

The industrial hall becomes a great new urban space

Originally commissioned in 1911, Shanghai Yangshupu is a former coal-fired power plant that is widely considered to be the first of its kind in the Far East. Part of a wider riverfront site, the plant contains two historic power station buildings, associated waterside buildings and equipment. It is an important set of buildings which helped in the early development of the city’s economy and has dominated the skyline for generations.

Connecting the station with its heritage was an important aim for the city. The heritage buildings will be interconnected by a new linear museum, curated with historical information about the river and the plant. The museum will utilise the original circulation route of the coal conveyor belt system, which transferred coal from the river barges to the power station boilers.

One of the power stations dates as far back as the early 1920s – it is officially the third oldest power station building in the world, originally designed and built by British engineers with British boilers, British generators and British control equipment.

It’s a city-scale urban plan forming a series of connected and green public spaces, event areas and mix of uses. All parts of the site will become interconnected to create a busy and engaged community of local people, visitors and workers. A great, new riverside park provides natural, serene refuge from the hustle and bustle of Shanghai city lives.

Today, the plant is set to benefit from a massive overhaul to preserve, adapt, and add to the heritage of the site. We are adding new accommodation and social, retail and business functions to both of the heritage power station buildings with the aim to transform Yangshupu into a mixed-use community for people across the district. A new Shanghai Power Station for modern, Chinese life.

Part of this riverside route has already been opened to welcome visitors back to the area for the first time since the plant was decommissioned in 2010. That has started the cultural re‑establishment of the area for the people of Shanghai and has created a great deal of excitement about what is to come. Our designs will breathe a new type of energy into the reused industrial buildings and city neighbourhood.

People-Centred Placemaking

Shanghai Yangshupu Power Station

Tianyi Gu

"It’s a city-scale urban plan forming a series of connected and green public spaces, event areas and mix of uses."

People-Centred Placemaking

Ever the Optimist

PwC Birmingham

Bruntwood Glasshouse, Alderley Park

Mark Simpson

The Covid-19 pandemic kept most people away from their offices for over a year. Companies had to adapt quickly to a new way of working with immediate consequences. As a result, the redesign of the workplace has become the focus for progressive businesses as they explore ways for people to return to the office. With future ways of working very much in the spotlight, we asked Mark Simpson, head of workplace, for his view.

PwC Birmingham

What are the most notable changes you have seen to the office environment in the last three decades? Computers. When I joined BDP we had one CAD machine. We had just won a huge project in Singapore and the space planning was done on that. I remember my colleague John Barker saying that one day we would all have computers on our desks. I thought he was mad. So technology has undoubtedly had the most significant and notable effect on the way we work – and continues to do so. The last year has really brought that into sharp focus. Can you imagine how the world could have kept turning without technology and the ability for millions of people to, almost overnight, work from home? The next few years will see to what extent that has changed the way we work – but it certainly has – for good. What impact has the Covid-19 pandemic had on the workplace? As I’ve just said, technology has kept the world turning and a lot of people working, but the effect of the pandemic has really only accelerated the changes that were already underway – whether that is on the high street or in the workplace. The office is not dead and the debate about how we will work still rages on. I personally think the appetite for returning to a place where people can interact face to face, collaborate, innovate, develop and mentor will be back – it’s a human instinct and that won’t change. How has the pandemic shaped what corporate occupiers are looking for in their office spaces? Although some are talking about fairly large reductions of space across their People-Centred Placemaking

estates, they are perhaps only going up a gear on the reductions they were already planning as they become more agile organisations. There is still a need to maximise collaboration, community and efficiency, but now with added choice and a greater desire to introduce more human elements; light, air, greenery and the need to promote health, wellbeing and sustainability are no longer tick-box elements; they are essentials. How do you see technology and smart offices influencing employee wellbeing? Technology has already had a massive impact on the way we work. When I started I couldn’t believe what a fax machine was capable of. It blew my mind. I could send drawings across the world – but they were drawings I’d done with a pen on a sheet of paper. So the way we work is smarter and fully enabled by technology – to the point that we couldn’t do our work without it. Buildings are increasingly smarter and I do believe that will be of benefit to the developers, occupiers and those who use the buildings daily. Some larger businesses are very astute about the way they occupy their space – we have worked with them to roll out programmes whereby every room, booth, space, desk etc is monitored by sensors. These sensors provide real-time information about how their buildings are being used and are linked to the systems that run them. That is already providing real benefits and as the workforce becomes more dynamic and distributed, it will help us understand how best to design and operate their buildings. That means greater efficiency and an enhanced working environment. What’s next for the workplace team at BDP? More of the same and increasingly international – with BDP Quadrangle in Toronto we are opening new markets all the time. We are celebrating our 60th anniversary as a practice this year, reflecting on all we have achieved during that time – but with an eye on the future, which I think is very bright. Exciting times.

Ideas

Daniel Walder’s Fun Palace

Daniel Walder

The Return of the Fun Palace Cedric Price’s Fun Palace

With anecdotal evidence pointing towards a reduction in the demand for office space and several high profile companies claiming they no longer need any workplace at all, this emancipation of space within the city provides new opportunities for the designer. If much of our traditional, desk-based working now takes place at home, our cities can become places for fun, excitement and social interaction. In a post-pandemic future, the office will be a tech-rich, dynamic space more akin to Cedric Price’s Fun Palace than the Victorian workhouse model prevalent today. Employees will need a reason to go to the office beyond simply having a desk. Meeting colleagues, hosting clients, large gatherings and social occasions are all obvious activities that require physical space. Access to technology, gyms, crèches and specialist equipment will also be key assets that provide an alternative dimension to the home office and will entice workers to return. For graduates and younger employees, moving to the city and working for a company is an exciting new voyage of discovery and development, both personally and professionally. For them the office provides a focal point, social cohesion and a sense of belonging. With a reduction in rental values and lower demand for space, there may also be opportunities to provide high quality, short stay accommodation to ensure organisations can attract the brightest and the best. People-Centred Placemaking

Inclusive Communities

Architect director, Heather Rolleston describes what a condominium looks like when it’s inspired, designed and executed by women

Reina: Queen of the Condos

Generous external terraces for urban living

Heather Rolleston

A human scale oasis in the city

BDP Quadrangle, Urban Capital and Spotlight Developments joined forces to undertake an experiment. They assembled a team of female experts from architecture, engineering, construction management, legal, marketing and sales to create a cutting-edge condo designed and developed solely by women. The idea was for women to lead the entire development process from design to construction; principally to draw awareness to the gender imbalance that exists in global real estate, but also to promote a diverse range of female role models to help encourage more women into the industry. Set, as fate would have it, on the site of a demolished gentleman’s club, the new development is proudly named Reina, the Spanish word for queen. One of the most important aspects of this project was the year-long public consultation process. Feedback was obtained from a wide array of users, including multigenerational families, parents with young or adolescent children, and singles. The resulting design is a striking,

contemporary midrise with atypically large, flexible floor plans and an amenity programme that pioneers community cohesion and fosters interaction between neighbours. Rising nine storeys on the Queensway in Toronto, Reina articulates a soft, lighter presence in its suburban setting and stands out as an original design without overwhelming the existing streetscape. The white brick exterior creates a quilted effect with soft curves and rounded corners, offering generous setbacks on the east and west. This creates a sequence of picketed balconies with views over the courtyard – an urban oasis in an otherwise busy city. Reina’s lobby is flooded with light, and the double-height windows frame views of the landscaped courtyard, inviting nature indoors. Vivid jewel colours shine in contrast with the lobby’s timber finishes and neutral palette, setting a mood that is both vibrant and serene. Active lifestyles are catered for by a gym and yoga studio equipped with weights and resistance training for a range

Inclusive Communities

Distinctive terracing responding to light and view

of abilities. Cleverly designed to support modern lifestyles, the exercise area is strategically located adjacent to the kids’ playroom so that parents can keep an eye on their children through the windows while fulfilling their fitness goals. A hobby room, designed as a messy room, invites residents to unleash their inner artist , while the sound(less) room can be used for music lessons, to host a karaoke party, or conversely, to meditate. All family needs have been considered, with a library, a parcel room, a games room, and a community room available for all hosting needs. Raising a family in a high-rise building is becoming more commonplace for urban Canadians. During the design process, we took inspiration from the City of Toronto’s Growing Up: Planning for Children in New Vertical Communities Urban Design Guidelines – incorporating three-bedroom and two-bedroom floor plans sized to exceed, where possible, the requirements for larger and growing families. Our consultations revealed that storage was a major issue. Many felt that space would always be at a premium in a condo so we tackled the issue head on, making stroller parking

available on all floors, with suites arranged to maximise existing storage opportunities or support add-ons. Floor-toceiling rolling doors, nine feet high ceilings, open-concept kitchens with built-in pantry and integrated bookshelves, together with vanities with undermount sinks and mirror medicine-cabinet hybrids all contribute to a spacious environment. Externally, the feeling of space continues as the expansive terraces on the south side of the building, along with spectacular double-storey penthouses on the eighth and ninth floors, overlook the courtyard and the Etobicoke lakefront beyond. Space, nature and beauty combine to create useful, calming and thoughtful environments. The Reina team recognises the importance of exceeding expectations; an all-woman team is unorthodox and expectations are high. It is our hope that all-women teams will be so commonplace in the future that this sort of collaboration won’t attract comment. But until such a time when the development, design and construction industries reflect the wide range of diverse and talented thought leaders, we will continue to share our ideas and designs for progressive places which optimise quality of life, not just for females, but for everyone.

Reina team

"In the future, we hope experiments and conversations about all-women teams won’t be necessary – right now, it’s a fascinating idea and we know the results will be fantastic."

Inclusive Communities

Reimagining Age-Friendly Living

Higher density development and roof-level gardens

Ideas

Ageing is inevitable. It is estimated that by 2050 there will be more than two billion people aged over 60, more than twice the number measured in 2000. One in six people in the world will be aged 65 years or over. This global phenomenon affects every country in the world, yet there are virtually no policies in place to cater for this shocking statistic. It’s more likely that we’ll hear about retirement housing being rejected on the grounds that it could harm the vitality of the town centre, as a recent high-profile case proved. So while the concept of age-friendly isn’t new, it has yet to fully permeate into policy-making across the built environment. In the UK there is still no planning definition (or use class) for age-friendly homes and recent housing policy has been heavily weighted towards the construction of homes for families and young professionals. It’s little wonder that the shortfall of new accessible, age-friendly homes is estimated at 22,000 every year. While we all continue to debate how to improve supply, national and global demand for more and better age-friendly homes is surging. These headline statistics mask the more important fact that individuals and their families can lose their independence, due to a lack of affordability or choice. Yes, retirement homes 60

are being built, but many just simply aren’t affordable. Much purpose-built development has been based on the retirement village. This development model aims to maximise security and comfort for residents, but the scale and typology means that they are often located at the urban fringes, reinforcing a sense of segregation between older people and the wider community. Alongside this, the global pandemic has seen our older populations disproportionately affected and our high streets blindsided – when shoppers were already thin on the ground. It has magnified the interconnections between our housing and built environment, and shone an unforgiving light on social inequalities. In our Reimagining Age-Friendly Living report we explore the potential for age-friendly residential development to help activate dormant underutilised sites in our high streets and towns, whilst expanding housing choice for this multifaceted demographic. We argue that a more radical approach to agefriendly living can help to unlock difficult sites and encourage more diversity within town and city centre residential populations. This model includes a number of design features not typically associated with older people’s housing: higher density modular development; generous private balconies; exploiting the roof level for gardens and residents’ social

Adam Park

spaces; opening up the ground floor as a shared community resource; and downgrading streets to introduce green space, improve walkability and reduce traffic noise. Taking a global perspective, we joined up our UK thinking with our colleagues in Toronto and in Singapore. We haven’t fixated on what ageing is now but have considered what it will look like in the next two to three decades, across the globe. For example, statistics from the United Nations show that by 2030, 60% of the world’s older population will reside in Asia. Additionally, in the last year, the Covid-19 pandemic has created a seismic shift in the care and wellbeing of older generations in the region. This means responding to the aspirations of people currently in their sixties, many of whom will want a very different old age to that of their parents’ generation, but also considering cultural expectations, such as those rooted in filial piety in parts of East Asia. And perhaps most importantly this is about opening a dialogue with developers, policy-makers and planners about what age-friendly development could look like and the role older can play in (re)activating the high street. We believe in creating multi-generational communities and mixed-use neighbourhoods – environments that allow people to grow older in a place that is well-connected to cultural, transport, healthcare and a range of other amenities, thus creating a better quality of life and revitalising urban centres.

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In the words of Hemingway, “No one should be alone in their old age.”

Key

Visit bdp.com to download the full report.

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Retail/Community Community Farming Multi-Generational Unit Viewing Deck Sky Terrace/Amenities Multi-Generational Playground Studio Bedroom 8 Bathroom 9 Balcony 10 Living Room 11 Kitchen 12 Master Bedroom 13 Master Bathroom 14 Bedroom 15 Bathroom

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Southeast Asia – age-friendly residential development

Inclusive Communities

Life Lessons for Learning Five of our influential women explain why a creative approach to design for education is more important today than ever before. Focusing on space that promotes children’s mental and physical wellbeing is paramount to counter the impact of a worldwide pandemic. They reveal how design thinking has changed to respond to a postCovid-19 world and why encouraging more females into the industry is essential to redress diversity and balance inclusion.

Sue tells a story about Devonshire Primary School in Blackpool which sums up her passion for designing educational buildings and her desire to create socially motivated architecture.

Sue Emms, North Region Chair

“It was my first education building, and we engaged with the pupils throughout the design process. At the school opening, I stood on a play deck with the head teacher, and come the end of the day when the bell rang the pupils didn’t want to leave. They just could not believe someone had listened and created something for them; such an uplifting, secure environment. The head and I looked at each other, and we knew we’d done our job correctly.” Sue says it’s great to win design awards, “but when students and pupils are inspired by the space, and you see education and attainment standards going up and anti-social behaviour

At school Rebecca’s friends didn’t know what a structural engineer was. Today, Rebecca is a tutor at the University of Bristol and a STEM ambassador, educating pupils, particularly girls, about the profession.

Devonshire Primary School, Blackpool

Rebecca Ellis, Structural Engineer

dropping – that is special! It shows that education can change people’s lives and be a huge catalyst for social, cultural and economic regeneration.” Sue also designs for higher education and she is already seeing the impact of Covid-19 on the acceleration of digital learning. She believes students of the future will experience blended learning, studying online at home and then attending classes for a different type of education. “It’ll be face to face, collaborative, active and applied learning, gaining real life skills that are good for employability.” As a result, the traditional big lecture theatre is already being replaced on the drawing board by flexible floor spaces. Single academic offices “will go out of the window – to be replaced by collaborative space.”

The environment will also be at the forefront of future trends in the sector, as will mental health and wellbeing. “People need interaction, but also exercise. A lot of universities are targeting participatory sport, rather than just elite. University estates of the future will have to look at how they can adapt to change and be agile.” Sue leads an initiative called bdpbelonging, which encourages diversity and inclusion within the practice. “We look at all types of representation making sure everybody, regardless of background, race, or gender, has a place and feels they are part of BDP. We want to remove barriers to allow people to progress and one area we need to focus on is increasing representation of women at a higher level.”

Inclusive Communities

“Engineering can be an overlooked course and career. I was attracted to its problem-solving character, working with people and numbers. It’s all about coming up with a creative design solution, supported and solved by the maths.” Rebecca says things are changing, albeit slowly. “The university is more mixed now than when I left seven years ago – there are definitely more females on the course, but we’re not close to having 50/50 parity and it is rare to have females in senior positions.” She cites her own role models; her school physics teacher and BDP’s head of civil and structural engineering, Michelle McDowell. Rebecca highlights the Mathematical Sciences Building at the University of Warwick which opened in 2017 as a standout scheme. “The new building was to house different engineering sciences in one collaborative space. Set at the heart of the campus it required complex links to existing structures that were easily accessible to academics and students. The six-storey atrium at the centre connected the building yet enabled transparency, a great solution for multiple disciplines.”

Sheffield Hallam University – online exhibition

University of Birmingham, Teaching and Learning Building

Svetlana’s approach and attitude to architecture reflects her history. Her home country of Ukraine gave her a love of constructivism; later she worked for three years amid the Bauhaus architecture of Tel Aviv, followed by two years in Italy before finally settling in Birmingham. A job with the City Architect department fired her passion for education. Her latest project is the Teaching and Learning Building at the University of Birmingham, a state of the art teaching and social study space at the centre of the parkland campus.

Robyn is fascinated by early learning. “To design spaces that benefit and promote learning is hugely important.”

Robyn Poulson, Architect

Svetlana Solomonova, Architect Director

It opened in January 2020, just two months before the global lockdown, but because of the flexible design, the building could be adapted to the new social distancing era when it reopened in July. “The university asked us how they could make the building safe. There are two staircases on the east and west sides which supported a oneway flow through the building and a reconfiguration of furniture and settings allowed the building to accommodate flexible social learning with the regulation two metre space around students.” Svetlana is ardent about the role of women in the sector. She participates in school career days supported by the practice and works with the RIBA’s Architect Ambassadors “supporting local schools with immersion days explaining the profession and the opportunities that the sector provides.” 64

Describing her childhood school in rural Devon as “grey blocks, dull landscaping, lots of corridors, unremarkable,” Robyn claims this helped her to make learning spaces “more inspiring, joyous, and fun. Even a formal set-up doesn’t have to be white walls and a grey ceiling – it should be much more than that.” Robyn incorporated these uplifting elements into the design of Francis Holland School in London, completed in the summer of 2019. “The new learning centre summed up everything we were trying to achieve in terms of creating an inspiring, fun, safe space, completely different to a traditional library. It offers an alternative environment, while a rooftop garden maximises connection with the outdoors – we didn’t want to lose any external footprint.” Worlds away from the school’s old wood panelled library, the new building flaunts book-lined curves, traditional long study desks, high laptop benches and reading dens through a variety of different surfaces and levels. It has three zones for use by the school’s different age groups ranging from four to 18. “Given the different ages, we were keen not to create divisions between any of the pupils. We wanted that social learning space and the ability to break down boundaries and achieve mentoring and support between the year groups. While they are zoned differently, they can also merge to use the space as they wish.” The roof garden boasts lush planting and Robyn proudly claims “it offers a bug hotel, with various species helping with biology lessons. There is also a herb garden cared for by the pupils, and the herbs are used in the canteen.”

Francis Holland School, London

Lindsey Mitchell, Architect Director

Lindsey explains her route into architecture with a great deal of modesty. “I was nervous about my interview at the Mackintosh School of Architecture as I didn’t know much about the profession,” she recalls, “but much of the interview was about my personality and cultural interests, that’s a big part of creating your own identity as an architect.” Lindsey spent time designing a mix of buildings in Chicago and London before returning home to join our Glasgow studio where she now leads the design of some of Scotland’s foremost primary and secondary school facilities. “Education can determine how people live the rest of their lives”, she says, “and I’m passionate about designing places that inspire children; places for a broad range of learners, where young people don’t feel like they have to leave their personalities at the door.” At St Brigid’s Primary School Newmains outdoor learning spaces, sustainable materials and engaging interventions combine to inspire visitors, teachers and children alike. “Designing modern schools is about enabling moments of imagination and joy – we focus on creating spaces that inspire enthusiasm for learning” says Lindsey. A helical slide encourages children to move between floors, while reading nooks and reflection areas offer spaces for the children to learn, play and socialise. On working in a male-dominated profession, Lindsey sees herself as an architect, not a female architect. She expounds the virtues instilled from her own education – “I just get my head down and get the work done. I think we are getting closer to a balance, but we can always do better and I believe that more flexible working, noticeable representation and mentoring schemes will help more women to climb the professional ladder.”

St Brigid’s Primary School Newmains

Joanna Szybejko, Architect

Both Joanna’s parents are architects so she never considered it a male profession. “Compared to the UK, in Poland there is a slight difference in attitudes to gender diversity in architecture – although there is definitely still room for improvement. I was lucky to have my mum and her friends as role models but I’m still aware of the need for more women to be inspired to join the profession.” While attitudes to women working in the built environment are changing, Joanna believes in encouraging all young pupils to choose the right career. “Giving support from an early age when you think you can do anything you want is important. Later, at university or at work, if you have people who encourage you and tell you that it doesn’t matter if you are a boy or a girl it makes a huge difference.” Inclusive Communities

Svetlana was a mentor on her first major scheme, Trinity Academy Bristol, one of the UK’s specialist music and performing arts schools. “She gave me the opportunity to take more responsibility and become a project architect.” The new building is due to open late summer and includes a 570seat performing space, drama and dance studios, bespoke and general classrooms, laboratories, library, sixth form study and social areas, as well as a Special Educational Needs centre. Joanna believes designing in a postCovid-19 world will mean the creation of more open spaces. “Social interaction and contact are what the kids miss most. After a year at home, children will need encouragement to socialise again and they will need the space to do it, especially if we have post Covid-19 distancing rules.” 65

Ayr Grammar Primary School The Grade B listed school has been sensitively restored and a new early years centre and community facilities added, continuing a tradition of learning and teaching on the site that stretches back to the 13th century. Adjacent to the Cromwellian Citadel of 1650, the void of the moat houses the co-located Ayrshire Archive, the roof of which has been developed as a playground doubling play area for pupils. 66

Ayr Grammar Primary School

Inclusive Communities

What’s the value of Social Value?

Beckenham Place Park, London

Beth Bourrelly, architect associate, shares her thoughts on the impact of design on communities and explains how a new toolkit is enabling more analytical insight into the social value provided by architects

As architects we spend a great deal of time aspiring to deliver design quality. A shift in accountability within the industry places a stronger focus on the added value of the work we do with and for local communities. Social value has moved up the agenda for the entire built environment, with an increased call to quantify and report the impact of social and environmental parameters which support conscientious design. The government’s Social Value Act 2012 sets a baseline for implementation but economic viability continues to dominate planning negotiations, often resulting in a lack of quantifiable societal outcomes. It has become critical for the designer to make a quantitative and qualitative assessment of how the design of a building or place affects social cohesion, wellbeing or happiness. It’s a balancing act. The traditional cost metrics will always be important but developers, contractors and investors are now placing greater importance on social value in terms of design, local engagement, sustainability, skills and employment in order to create more resilient communities.

University of Birmingham, Teaching and Learning Building

continual process of improvement to ensure we learn lessons from completed projects and adopt them to inform future design decision making.

We now have access to a pragmatic tool which demonstrates and calculates social value in architecture. In 2018 I joined a RIBA working group of industry professionals brought together to evaluate the impact of design on communities. The result of months of collaboration is the ‘Social Value Toolkit for Architects.’ The ethos of BDP lies in a collaborative, people-focused culture and user-inspired design with a shared aim to value each other and the communities where we work; enabling economic growth, enhancing education, building robust supply chains and increasing employment. We aspire to design healthy, sustainable environments and enable resilient buildings and communities. Now we can use external benchmarking to track and record the impact of any activity we undertake in the community. The idea that project metrics could be analysed through a standardised approach to identify and ‘monetise’ added social value is of enormous benefit when making design decisions. A recent report conducted by Hatch interrogated our Teaching and Learning Building at the University of Birmingham to measure outputs. The findings set out the variety of meaurable impacts across the whole project process. As well as being able to report on all social engagement, the data will be embedded in a

Understanding and calculating the long term ‘social value added’ of our built projects is very important to help us continue to improve upon our wider contribution to society. In London, plans to improve Beckenham Place Park meant a complete overhaul of 96 hectares of parkland and the addition of a wide range of facilities. We engaged with the council and residents on proposals to attract a larger and more diverse audience to the park. The local community was involved in the design process from the outset, and since the restoration the park has reconnected surrounding communities and provided much needed, high-quality open green space in the borough during the Covid-19 pandemic. For both large and small projects, the Social Value Toolkit for Architects helps us to recognise and, crucially, to evaluate the vital impact that user-inspired design has on social measures like cohesion, connectivity, interactivity, freedom, flexibility and ability to participate. It has enabled us to robustly define design value. The toolkit gives us the ability to look at how places really perform over time and then to attribute a meaningful figure to our work as designers, based on the outcomes. By using the toolkit designers can evaluate how successfully they deliver more sociallyconscious places, taking a people-first approach and contributing to the creation of happier communities more engaged in the areas they live, work and play. Surely that is a step in the right direction.

Inclusive Communities

RIBA Social Value Toolkit

Resilient Places

Soaking up the Pressure

Landscape architect associate Jenny Ferguson describes how an inventive new park is helping to reduce flooding and connect a Manchester community

[All] West Gorton Community Park, Manchester

Manchester has a reputation for being one of the wettest cities in the UK. Climate change is exacerbating this by increasing the frequency of heavy rainfall events. Could a new park which uses a series of swales, rain gardens and bio-attenuation features to direct rainwater away from homes and prevent flooding be the answer? The final element in a £100m regeneration scheme of 500 new homes, community facilities and school improvements, the lovingly nicknamed Sponge Park opened in summer 2020. It is the first UK demonstrator project for the GrowGreen initiative, funded by the European Union’s 2020 Horizon programme. The project was a result of close collaboration with Manchester City Council, the Guinness Partnership Ltd and the University of Manchester, who will monitor the storm water flows over the next five years to ascertain how effectively the park can reduce flooding, gathering data to inform the design of other green spaces in flood prone areas across the EU. The aspiration is for West Gorton Community Park to be an exemplar; not just an ingenious way to manage water effectively, but to connect community and alleviate the effects of climate change. Permeable paving for paths allows rainwater to percolate through the ground or channel from surrounding roads to irrigate the new planting. Sounds simple? But permeable pavements require specific materials to ensure the surface acts as drainage yet remains intact; requiring the uppermost layer to provide a stiff surface resistant to wear, while the lower layers spread the load onto the natural ground beneath. We devised a SuDS surface course composed of interlocking 74

concrete block pavers bedded on a layer of 6mm aggregate and wrapped in an impermeable geotextile membrane to create a fully waterproof ‘tanked system’. This composition enables the rainwater to be stored and also controls its release. Infiltration basins were installed and swales planted to immediately soak up water. Any remaining water flows into sunken rain gardens, planted with a range of nectar-rich vegetation to enhance the natural environment and increase biodiversity. During heavy storms, water is diverted from road and paving gullies into these nature-based features, where planting will naturally filter and absorb the water – significantly reducing pressure on the active drainage system. A series of headwalls around the water inlet and outlet positions was built using natural stone, which minimises soil erosion. Through the centre of the swales is a series of timber check-dams, to physically slow the rate of water flow. This means the park and the swales act like a sponge, soaking up the water to feed the plants. By the time the remaining water reaches the central rain garden, which is covered by a timber pontoon deck, there is significantly less to manage. Community consultation identified local needs and aspirations for the open spaces and raised awareness about the impact of climate change. The community has taken pride – and ownership – of the new facility, which promotes social cohesion and wellbeing, together with the significant environmental benefits.

Jenny Ferguson

Three distinct areas offer different experiences. Woodland: Natural elements such as timber and rock are used in the playground, with objects placed to encourage physical movement and free play. A pebble rill captures water run-off and acts as a play feature for children to follow. Planting along this rocky creek captures and attenuates the water on its journey down to the rain gardens. To the south a sunny glade has been created by removing a dense cluster of existing trees, allowing light to penetrate down to the paths towards the timber seating below. Existing paths have been refreshed with a new surface wearing course. Meadow: In parallel with the primary pedestrian path, a sinuous trail with stepping stone logs and beams offers an alternative fitness route for exploration. It travels through the meadow and orchard, with seating niches set into low timber retaining walls, using stepping stones through the rain garden which lead to a story-telling space. Community: Open lawns, community planting areas and a south-facing piazza enjoy full community use for events, sports and pop-up markets. Permeable paving filters rainwater through a series of formal channels which irrigates the new trees and plants and provides a rich, sensory environment for the community to enjoy. An open timber structure with acrylic roof catches more rainwater into water harvesting butts beneath, so that there is no requirement to connect to a potable water supply for the watering of plants. Communal raised beds can be used by residents with a keen horticultural interest or who wish to grow their own food. With increased awareness of sustainable issues and climate change directly impacting people’s lives, the design of community spaces and public realm is more important than ever. At West Gorton, the combination of natural solutions and intelligent permeable materials provides an innovative solution that supports the local community and solves many of the local council’s challenges. The result is a park that reduces flooding in one of the UK’s wettest cities, creates a net gain in biodiversity but most importantly provides a lasting community space where residents can relax, feel safe and ultimately, enjoy as a wonderful space where they can come together.

"The community has taken pride – and ownership – of the new facility"

Resilient Places

Fujian Lin Wenjing Memorial Hospital, Fuzhou

Sustainability in Practice Sustainability goes far beyond carbon emissions. It is about changing mindsets and behaviours. It requires an integrated and collaborative approach to design, operation and management from the entire supply chain. Collective ambition is critical, and our aim is to drive this through analysis and advocacy. Our sustainability experts give their opinion on the pertinent issues we face today.

Net Zero Carbon Net zero carbon is not an approach, it’s an outcome. And it’s an outcome that clients are quite rightly asking for our help to understand. But they’re doing so because they’re starting to realise that they are going to have to shoulder the burden of poor performance – both from a financial and reputational perspective. To call yourself net zero carbon you’ve got to meet embodied carbon and operational carbon targets, and be willing to pay to offset any emissions you’re left with. And you’ve got to disclose all of this publicly.

Amber Fahey, Consultant

Of course there’s a cost premium associated with driving towards new performance goals. Industry data tells us that pursuing Passivhaus, for example, adds around 8% to the construction cost and similarly, we are expecting low embodied impact materials and high performance equipment to cost more. But with performance ambitions that are focussed on whole life impacts, our mindsets also need to shift from cost to value – and this means we have to lose area or adapt ways of working. What is obvious, though, is that we can’t keep going the way we have been if we’re going to meet our local, national and global obligations. Clients, designers, contractors and occupiers alike need to take responsibility in driving change.

Measuring Green Infrastructure As the long awaited Environment Bill mandating a minimum 10% increase in Biodiversity Net Gain (BNG) draws closer to Royal Assent, designers, ecologists and developers are navigating through the range of guidance and metrics for its measurement, alongside the other various valuation methodologies that already exist for measuring the benefits of Green Infrastructure (GI). There is currently no single tool that comprehensively enables the measurement of the range of ecosystem services GI can provide. The Natural England Biodiversity Metric tool for BNG builds on and replaces the DEFRA metric. It focuses only on biodiversity, through a calculation of the change in units between the baseline and development proposals. Units are based on the distinctiveness, condition, strategic significance and habitat connectivity of features. What the tool reflects well, is the value of existing GI, and how established features are difficult to replace in terms of value. For example, approximately 20 young trees would need to be planted to achieve no net loss where a single mature urban tree is removed. Even where the required biodiversity units are achieved, it is key that GI tools should be used alongside early ecological advice, to ensure that achieving certain greening targets is not to the detriment of other ecosystem services and existing site assets. It is also important to consult with the local planning authority when deciding upon the most appropriate metric for a project.

Philip Gray, Director

More comprehensive is the GLA’s Urban Greening Factor (UGF), a measurement that local authorities in London will be required to incorporate into policy by the New London Plan. Although surface cover factors have been developed specifically on the basis of potential for rainwater infiltration, water-holding capacity and associated soil are considered a proxy for ‘naturalness’ and ability to provide a range of benefits associated with more natural systems. Hence the UGF looks to increase functionality as well as quantity of GI. What is not clear, is the extent to which wider ecosystem service benefits such as enhanced wellbeing, community and social cohesion are incorporated.

Milan Expo

Resilient Places

Life Cycle Assessments Life cycle assessment is the mechanism for assessing environmental impacts associated with all the stages of a product’s life. In the case of the construction industry, we can apply this to the individual building elements to determine the total impact of procuring the asset.

The primary tool we use is One Click LCA but other tools for the construction industry exist, and individual practices are developing and publishing their own tools to fulfil their specific needs rapidly. Whilst the look and feel of these differ, the background data is sourced from the same places as they integrate many of the 30 Environmental Product Declaration (EPD) programmes and LCA databases, which are widely available. Anyone can pull this data into a database; the trick is making it useful and accessible, which requires an understanding of the overarching principles – heavy buildings consume more complex structural materials and bespoke elements consume more energy. So how can we better embed an understanding of the early principles that need to frame thinking before pen is put to paper?

Jon Hall, Consultant 80 Atlantic, Toronto

We have grappled with this technique for several years with a variable degree of success but recently we have been equipped with more sophisticated tools and resources to not only quantify impact but reduce it.

Jaffer Muljiani, Graduate Consultant

There are clear parallels with the climate crisis that many commentators have been quick to identify. Even if every country was to achieve net zero by 2050, we will experience (and already are experiencing) consequences as the climate continues to change. The scale and pace of the response to Covid-19 needs to be leveraged into similarly speedy adaptation strategies to minimise the inevitable impacts even as we continue in our effort to limit emissions. Do our hospitals have the required cooling capacity for their patients during overcapacity and with summer temperatures rising? How safe are coastal towns and cities as sea levels rise and storms become more severe? Can infrastructure such as transport or food supply chains cope with severe disruption?

We have been similarly developing our LCA strategy, in parallel with our materials specification framework, so that our design teams can undertake these, quickly and easily.

Being unprepared is not an option. If Covid-19 has taught us anything, it’s that the price of inaction is too high.

Neighbourhood Nests, Toronto

Resilience and Covid-19 In October 2016, Exercise Cygnus was carried out to test the UK’s readiness for a flu pandemic. A wargame simulated over three days, it involved 950 officials from central and local government, health services, prisons and local emergency response planners. It concluded that “the UK’s preparedness and response…is currently not sufficient to cope with the extreme demands of a severe pandemic”. Fast forward to 2021, and few would disagree.

Sustainability Experts

Buildings and their complex arrangement of products have often been overlooked as regards their impact on health and productivity but ‘healthy buildings’ have more recently become a critical focal point for the built environment with a growing body of research showing that commercially available products can contain chemicals which are hazardous to human health. Research demonstrates that in healthy office environments, productivity increases, absenteeism reduces and concentration improves. In residential environments sleeping patterns improve and respiratory issues decrease, which is vital in the current climate. Environmental assessments such as BREEAM and WELL already consider the emissions from building products but in the Covid-19 climate, this has never been more crucial. Through better planning and informed choices, healthier building products can be specified to achieve improvements to health and the wellbeing of a building’s occupants. There are currently a number of certification schemes, which provide a measure of sustainability assurance of materials. These include: Cradle to Cradle, Healthy Product Declaration (HPDs), and the Declare Label. Ideally, only products from these and other third-party verified schemes should be specified, but they’re currently not mandatory and so can restrict the choice of materials for designers and contractors. And it is critical that ‘equal and approved’ is similarly scrutinised.

Bright Building, Manchester

Healthy Buildings People on average spend 90% of time indoors; this figure was reported prior to the Covid-19 pandemic when we were actively advised to stay at home.

Mia Coleman, Consultant

The Circular Economy The goals of the circular economy in the built environment are to preserve natural capital and material value, optimise resource consumption through designing out negative externalities and designing in adaptability, and changing models of resource consumption. As an industry, meeting these objectives requires holistic thinking about not only how we design buildings and select materials in their first life cycle, but how the approach to design and materials selection will affect future iterations and lifecycles.

Nick Pigula, Senior Consultant

Prioritising the refurbishment of buildings now and in the future will be critical in the shift to a circular economy. However this raises challenges; do we use highly durable technical materials that are designed for disassembly and reuse, or less durable and adaptable low carbon/bio-based materials? How do we design buildings to be as adaptable as possible for the future, but without over engineering or compromising the current needs of the building, or knowing what the future needs might be? There is no definitive answer to delivering circular economy aims, but there is a consistent process we need to embed and follow to ensure we explore opportunities and test solutions to enable informed decision making. Utilising our work with the UKGBC and others, we need to work with our clients and wider stakeholders in developing a clear and robust brief that considers both current and future needs of our buildings, with a shift away from cost and towards value. Resilient Places

Northern Estate, London – Norman Shaw North

Recreating the low carbon Georgian terrace

The Electric Ireland Building services engineer, Diarmuid Reynolds, explains how ten years of research has closed the knowledge gap in global office energy use 80

When the Electrical Supply Board for Ireland approached us to take a 45,000m² office building within a famous Georgian streetscape, retain the aesthetic and make it one of the most sustainable workplaces in Ireland, we couldn’t wait to get started. The project also offered an excellent opportunity to research Passivhaus techniques, phase change materials, solar control, natural ventilation, daylight and biodiversity to formulate the next generation of sustainable office design. The ESB HQ is set in Fitzwilliam Street in Dublin, once the longest continuous row of Georgian buildings in the world. This posed a challenge in implementing modern passive design responses within a traditional setting. We took a comprehensive, all-encompassing approach and knew that by considering all elements we could create something of real significance that was a true gamechanger. Traditional practices were analysed. Were they really the best strategies or was it just the way it was always done? We accepted a commission to review the systems of ten other office buildings in the city from an environmental perspective, and this provided valuable insights into traditional design. Each building system was developed to test new principles and the finished design contains more than 12 new techniques not used before in office design. Some of these required research and testing, including in-house developed Diarmuid Reynolds

software to test complex system interactions. One of these systems includes an advanced phase change material that works much the same way as ice banks but the system freezes at +100C. A new hydronic system solution was also used for the first time in Ireland. Where buildings are traditionally fed with completely separate heating and cooling circuits, the building is the first to use a combined system which switches dynamically between modes locally, offering an optimised version of natural, mechanical ventilation and air-conditioning. In most buildings solar control is applied to all glazing, or at least to all glass that forms part of a particular facade. In this building a detailed study was undertaken to select the most appropriate location for solar control glass, taking account of not only the orientation of each facade but also the shading provided by adjacent structures and other parts of the building. We adjusted the glazing dimensions and solar performance to suit each area, reducing overheating in some places and decreasing the heating load in others. In building services speak, you’ll hear us talk about finding the ‘Goldilocks point’. Rather than searching for the best temperature of porridge, it refers to finding a system operating point at which everything works in our favour to minimise energy efficiency and minimise energy costs. There are three important factors that help isolate this magical point of equilibrium. Firstly electricity is half price at night; secondly moving energy is more thermodynamically efficient then generating it; and finally, minimising temperature differences maximises efficiency. We deployed phase change material to store waste cooling potential produced as a byproduct of building heating. The material then uses nightrate electricity to store cooling potential, shifting electrical

"We are already benefiting from the research aspects of this project, feeding the insights gained into our current and future designs" demand on the grid from day to night. It is also beneficial in assisting the grid to support the generation of renewable energy. Staying within the ‘Goldilocks point’ is economically advantageous and allows 14kWh of energy to be produced for the price of a single kWh of electrical energy. It’s the definition of efficiency. We are already benefiting from the research aspects of this project, feeding the insights gained into our current and future designs. Post construction we are committed to in-depth monitoring for a two year period with subsequent publication of our findings. This will enable us to expand our analysis, optimise systems and assist the wider industry to close the knowledge gap in the design of more sustainable, reliable workplaces.

Transfer heat pump moves heat between simultaneous loads OFFICE COOLING LOADS

Air source heat pump tops up net heating and cooling loads

Morning Heating

8am

Office mornings 9am

11am

Phase change storage

Office afternoons 1pm

Free cooling from air

Generate heating and cooling at the same time before 8am, when electricity is half price

Resilient Places

Afternoon Cooling Free cooling or heating from ground loops

Energy use diagram – searching for the ‘Goldilocks point’

OFFICE HEATING LOADS

A Mayfair Medley Matt Bell

Corporate Affairs Director, Grosvenor UK and Ireland

In July 1933, a group of architects got together on a boat from Marseilles to Athens and came up with a charter that championed the idea of separating uses. Le Corbusier and his mates agreed that housing, work, recreation and commerce should be strictly separated in the interests of public health.

Le Corbusier, La Ville Radieuse

Matt Bell

[Top Left] Arrival from Oxford Street. [Top Right] Brook Street, South Molton Lane. [Bottom Left] Davies Street looking south. [Bottom Right] South Molton Lane.

Their logic was born partly from a time when TB ravaged Europe, just as Covid-19 does today. That school of modernism produced some wonderful architecture but as urban planners they gave us gems like Brasilia and it took us a long time to escape their instinct to separate uses.

It was the biggest application Westminster has seen during lockdown, providing 35 new shops, elegant public realm adjacent to the new Elizabeth Line station and a 56% increase in office workspace. (That’s right – an increase in office space).

In December last year, in the midst of a pandemic once more, Westminster City Council approved a scheme to redevelop the South Molton Triangle. It’s an area just beside Bond Street tube station in central London, connecting the Oxford Street District to Mayfair.

Despite those numbers, the feel of the design work is wonderfully low-key. Less sleek and determinedly modern than Fitzroy Place. More like Wickside in scale and character but less focused on the residential element.

For years, this has felt like a dank purposeless junction. There’s a fashion in design circles for praising messiness, which I get, but this area really isn’t full of interesting urban juxtapositions. Just bad paving. It’s somewhere you dive down to reach the Running Horse pub or more recently a little Italian cafe on the corner. So consent for half a billion pounds’ worth of investment in the Triangle is fantastic news, not just for this corner of Mayfair but for everything it says about West End recovery.

There’s a 31-bed hotel and six new suites above the pub and retained facades of some lovely heritage buildings. BDP created the designs for a healthy dose of pedestrianisation, more trees and spaces for bikes, as well as consolidated servicing by electric vehicles. It’s a proper old urban jumble. None of that dogma that blighted the Athens Charter. But the promise of some handsome human streets brought back to life. A fantastic way to end 2020 and good reason to feel positive about what the future will bring.

Resilient Places

Lighting the way to a Circular Economy

Enterprise Centre, University of East Anglia

Mark Ridler, head of lighting, outlines his ten commandments to support the enduring practice of reuse, repurpose and recycle.

The concept of the circular economy is not new. In 2019 some notable manufacturers raised awareness, with lighting conferences promoting the thinking of long-time advocates like John Bullen, who up until now, had been screaming alone in the desert like a latter day John the Baptist. I decided to make 2020 the year of the circular economy for BDP. This meant a strong focus on research, engagement with stakeholders and developing a design process and specification to make a real and meaningful contribution. It was simply the right thing to do. We explored the big issues with our clients and design partners and built a strong consensus on the approach and deliverables. Partly prompted by net zero targets and Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) imperatives and stimulated by Covidgenerated strategic estate reviews, companies across the world have been having a parallel debate about the circular economy. The supply chain have been early adopters, some radically modifying their business models, partly out of moral conviction, but also with hopes of commercial benefit. The QS and PM community are quickly up to speed (being close to the clients as they are) and even some contractors are willing to engage as long as there is an acknowledgement

that the system has to adapt for them to play their part. The most vulnerable link in the circular chain is operation, not least because of the perennial disconnect between capex and opex that is stubbornly prevalent in most institutions. The circular economy debate in the lighting profession is not being driven by embedded carbon but by resource poverty and biodiversity. (The world runs out of copper in 2050). Until a circular economy certification method is available, we need to rethink how we implement the principles and reduce short term and long term costs to make them more appealing. Essentially, we are brokering the creation of a second hand market; as with cars, if you know the provenance and can estimate future life, then there is value in discouraging disposal. So let’s start now: we are already committed and collaborations between designers and manufacturers are springing up everywhere, such as the Greenlight Alliance of which I am a founding member. Let’s be curious, let’s work together. When materials run out, we’ll have no choice!

Brief CL

DE S

R NE IG

R CTO A R

NT IE

End of Life

CO NT

In Use

Design

Construction

Resilient Places

Circular Economy diagram

Bright Building, Manchester

380 lx

430 lx

Mark Ridler Daylight Calculations

815 lx

Ten considerations to encourage the enduring practice of reuse, repurpose and recycle 1 Use more daylight

The ultimate waste prevention strategy. It’s free, carbon neutral and life enhancing. We used to build buildings lit by daylight but not so much anymore.

2 Take control

The right amount, in the right place, at the right time. The advent of wireless meshed control promises much but it must deliver on its promise of intuitive user control.

3 Code intelligence

A fancy phrase for ‘avoid blanket provision’. The codes don’t actually ask for an ocean of 400lux slopping over the entire building, but companies need to understand this and employ consultants who won’t do it. For the planet’s sake, let’s get rid of Cat A installation; it’s an obscene waste of kit.

4 Embrace the supply chain

So much can be written on integration and collaboration, but here are some suggestions for better practice: Use recycled and recyclable materials, shorten the supply chain to generate less carbon in transport and generate optimised design through marginal gains. Use better packaging and factory renewable energy sources and implement end of life take back schemes.

5 Inform the rest of the chain

Even if we specify lights made of mung beans, grown on site and powered by their own methane, none of this will make a bit of difference if the rest of the construction industry – and clients – don’t get on board.

6 Integrate modular design

7 Implement demountable design

Let’s increase the use of an infrastructure that allows units to be plugged in and out easily by users, allowing greater flexibility over a longer design life and supporting reuse. Floor-mounted and tablemounted task/decorative options are far more adaptable, low energy, efficient; and when you move you can take your light with you.

8 Reconsider value engineering

Companies must enforce specifications that include qualitative stipulations if Circular Economy (CE) is to be central to their project – until CE certification is available this will challenge ‘equal and approved’ procurement. Non-financial performance targets are becoming more common and some of the very largest businesses are devising their own prequalification certification schemes.

9 Maintain contract governance

The contractor must insist that specified CE requirements like project packaging protocols are applied by the supply chain, and the client needs the tools to monitor these.

10 Train for operation

Operations teams need to be trained to understand the project and to be rewarded for dismantling and reusing, to deliver a sustainable end. As a new building has at least a 20 year lifecycle, this knowledge will be held by a series of employees, requiring a shift in institutional thinking. Wireless controls mean that lighting installations can generate automatic inventories so that operators know what they have in their building. Additionally, using LEDs makes it possible for each light source to report its condition history. Together, this creates value. Users know what they have, where it is and how much life it has left; so allowing them to reuse with confidence and/or sell it on.

This is already demanded by Eco Directive and the upcoming UK Environment Bill. Let’s act now. Resilient Places

Introducing the Hyper-Local High Street Nick Durham Head of Cardiff Studio

The shift to hyper-local high streets offers not only a chance to reinvent urban design but improves wellbeing, fosters community spirit and boosts local economies.

Hyper-local drawing (Rob Stevens)

Nick Durham

The impact of Covid-19 and the local, national and international response has had a dramatic effect on all of our lives, but the seismic shift in the way we work has also triggered positive consequences. Vast numbers of us have continued to work from home since March 2020, in line with government advice, and as a result we are spending much more time and money in our local community. Even when restrictions lift, the trend towards home working looks set to stay. This has had an incredibly tough impact on city centres, with latest figures for Cardiff showing a 30.9% decrease in footfall. What it has also signalled is a reinvention of the local high street; workers traditionally located in city centre offices are now living and working in their community. They are popping out to local shops and cafes during the week and using facilities and businesses in their neighbourhood. Together they are contributing to a revival of the hyper-local high street. This can already be seen in the way shopping and food hubs in residential areas are changing. Cardiff’s bustling Wellfield Road has recently been transformed to make it more pedestrian friendly with wider footpaths and the removal of cars, allowing the local shops and cafes to spill out onto the street. Plans announced for Cowbridge Road and Whitchurch Road, home to Bake Off star Cocorico Patisserie, include new walkways and street furniture, rain gardens and flowering perennials. We’ve been looking at the impact of this on health and wellbeing. As local authorities adapt and improve the high streets of today, we must also plan the communities of the future. We believe hyper-local is here to stay – and will be about much more than shopping and coffee. Our predictions include the decentralisation of services and the creation of local healthcare and wellbeing hubs, a transport infrastructure which focuses on active and public transport. We foresee an increasing focus on connection with nature such as community gardens, appreciated now like never before, which can also bring food production closer to home. The worlds of home and work are merging, as is the role, purpose and offer of the local high street. As shops adapt to social distancing, restricting numbers in store with customers waiting outside, a different kind of hyper-local economy is emerging. An important feature is the adaptive use of existing ‘slack spaces’. Put simply, this means allowing communities to inhabit and repurpose underused areas of their local high street in response to social, cultural and economic opportunities, which broadens appeal and sustains the popularity of independents and regional provenance. The good news is that the Welsh government is already indicating support for such initiatives. Our new-found interest in our locality, combined with an expanded network of community-based working hubs, together with improved transport infrastructure, will offer choices beyond a simple home/office split. We are falling back in love with our local high street – though not quite as we knew it. What a hugely positive legacy from an incredibly challenging time.

Resilient Places

Why Nature-Inclusive Development Matters

Björn Bleumink, head of Rotterdam studio, explains how nature-inclusive and biodiverse developments in the Netherlands protect species and habitats and create more welcoming, socially inclusive places.

In 2014 the central government of the Netherlands committed to protecting, improving and enhancing the natural environment across the country. The policy document entitled The Natural Way Forward was developed in response to a reported decrease of up to 15% in the quality and quantity of nature in the Netherlands. To halt this decline, the paper sets out the government’s ambitions for natureinclusive design by embedding it into society, including during construction and development. In 2019 the government’s ambition was updated and extended with The Netherlands Nature Positive. The document connects the movement for greater biodiversity and conservation to important social considerations such as circular agriculture, the energy transition, the increasing need for housing, infrastructural development and drastically reducing the NOx deposition.

more sustainable alternatives. Developers have a growing interest in embracing nature in their future developments, understanding its added value, not only for the development itself, but also for the wider area and current and future residents. Nature-inclusive and climate-adaptive principles have always formed an integral and self-evident part of our urban design strategy. Valuing the genius loci also means valuing local flora, fauna and eco-systems. Together with clients and municipalities we are striving to strengthen these natural structures by embedding them as key elements in our designs.

These sobering figures and policy developments show the true impact of climate change and how it represents a fundamental challenge to the way we perceive and live with nature. Over development, air and ground pollution and decreasing green zones in our cities puts pressure on biodiversity; for example, recent research shows a concerning decline in insects in recent decades. As a result, larger animals are experiencing increasing difficulties in finding new habitats with sufficient food and nesting possibilities. The ecosystems in our cities and towns are breaking down.

Vogelenzang, Rhenen

Dutch people have always had a strong affiliation with nature, especially water. The polders below sea level and the reclaimed land require constant attention to prevent flooding. Finding smart solutions to make the water problem manageable has led to a collective way of thinking that connects the Dutch people and gives us identity. We must take the same approach to save nature: a collaborative system that is embraced by society as a whole and embedded in all levels of governance. Until recently, we were dependent on the willingness of developers to invest in a nature-inclusive and climateadaptive design. Fortunately, due to policy changes and pressure from social movements we have seen a shift in the industry, stimulated by increasing public pressure to replace the traditional business models of urban development for Resilient Places

Zeist, Kerckebosch

At Treffpunkt Bürgerpark in Dusseldorf an open green landscape creates an open and accessible link between city and river above the centre of regional democracy.

Monnikenhuizen in Arnhem, for example, is an excellent example of a nature-inclusive neighbourhood in which urban design and architecture strengthens the local ecosystem. A former football stadium, the centre of the site was treeless and flat. It had lost its original relationship with its surroundings, due to the abrupt level differences of up to 25 metres at the edges. Our design took inspiration from the wooded spaces on the periphery of the development, drawing on the topography of the area and reconnecting the sloping terrain of the former stadium to the surrounding forests with fully-grown oak and birch trees. The result was a mix of residential areas and nature-inclusive places, incorporating wildflower meadows and planted terraces

repurposed from excavated materials, together with wetland areas created from rainwater run-off and outdoor community spaces built using natural materials. Today, around 20 years after the completion of the project the development abounds with bees, birds and healthy wildlife protected by a community that engages with, and enjoys nature as part of everyday life. In a similar way, we recently transformed a former quarry in Rhenen into the residential area of Vogelenzang. It forms a key project in the ambitious plan to connect two national parks by opening a passage for red deer along the banks of the Nederrijn. Considering the high ecological value of the quarry lake and the steeply forested slopes, only a third of the location is used for housing, with the existing flora and fauna preserved to accommodate the deer population. Vogelenzang is not only nature-inclusive, but also a sociallyinclusive neighbourhood. With more than 30% affordable housing, the natural surroundings of the riverbanks, the lake in the former quarry and a sponge park on the lowest spot in the neighbourhood, it is perfectly designed as a setting for social encounters across all strata of society. In a country like the Netherlands, where nature and culture are intertwined, our holistic masterplanning vision embraces nature, cultural history and society. By balancing these considerations we are able to respond to our national ambition to design the most inclusive developments possible. In doing so, we can add significant value to peoples’ lives, the social fabric, the business community and the progressive and sustainable places of the future.

Björn Bleumink

Two bridges formed as a sequence of circles span a canal at the entrance of Amsterdam Osdorp Business Park leading to a pedestrian plaza with open views over an ecological zone.

Innovative Cities

The Making of

a Super-Hospital

Nick Fairham, head of Bristol studio, recounts how modern design technology and construction techniques enabled the early delivery of a state of the art healthcare facility in Wales. In a year most of us can’t wait to forget, on a fabulous site in the Welsh countryside north of Newport, a cutting-edge specialist critical care centre opened four months ahead of schedule – and under budget. Despite the challenges presented by the Covid pandemic, incredible treatment and care continues to be delivered daily with the facility’s built-in flexibility key to its response. As one of a handful of people involved in the design and construction of the Grange University Hospital, from the beginning to end of its 13 year journey to completion, I wanted to reflect on what we, our partners and client have learned along the way, and how these findings can fundamentally change the approach to designing and delivering future hospital construction projects. Grange University Hospital

Firstly, timeframes: a decade or more for the design, development and delivery of a major critical care hospital was to be expected when we started. Naturally, the planning, approval and procurement processes are complex. But it is now acknowledged that streamlining and prioritising the approval process, in particular, can save years of time and millions of pounds. It means suppliers can plan workloads, agree design approaches and maintain greater continuity of people and expertise – not to mention the cost savings – a year’s delay on a £300m project could lose £12m to inflation. That’s a shortfall that has to be recovered – so you have to start taking things out. Therefore establishing efficient and timely processes from the outset is critical. Flexibility in healthcare design is fundamental to ensure a hospital can evolve to meet advances in treatment and care, adapt to a population’s changing healthcare needs and enable continuous improvement and system transformation. Flexibility to adapt to changes in design, technology and construction over the course of a decade is also hugely important. Take energy supply for example; at the start of this project, biomass boilers were the sustainable solution of choice. By the time the hospital was being built, combined heat and power was the way forward and installing biomass would have been practically prehistoric. At the other end of the scale, light fittings were switched to more energy efficient LEDs which had become commercially viable during the lifetime of the project. An expert client and efficient supplier framework greatly contribute to reduced timescales and keeping budgets on track. The Aneurin Bevan University Health Board and the NHS have significantly invested in skills and are expert customers buying expert suppliers.

Offsite manufactured wall assembly including large windows

The framework is fundamental to that expertise, ensuring teams of architects and designers, project managers, construction engineers and contractors work together from the outset. It meant the contractor could share experience Nick Fairham

of building hospitals across the UK, rather than each stage happening in isolation with a contractor engaged too late to inform designs. Conversations and knowledge sharing took place much earlier. Laing O’Rourke’s expertise in offsite manufacture and Modern Methods of Construction (MMC) for example, helped inform and develop our design. Large windows that flood patient bedrooms with natural light,

proven to have a positive impact on wellbeing and recovery, were made even larger than our original design, following their suggestion to reduce the weight of the wall components to allow better transportation and more efficient logistics on site. At the outset of this project MMC was in its formative stages. Every element was effectively a prototype. The contractor brought a great deal of learning from the delivery of two other major hospitals at Alder Hey and Dumfries and Galloway and this informed a lot of decisions. From reducing material waste and construction traffic on site, to the procedure for loading and unloading lorries, offsite manufacturing of large component parts of the hospital allowed for unprecedented levels of efficiency and precision. Lastly, this project substantiated a fact we have always known: the importance of involving people. As well as bringing contractors and suppliers together from the outset and delivering sufficient corporate memory to stay the course of the project, engaging staff and clinicians early is also crucial. The decision to design storage into every pod of single patient rooms rather than at the ends of long corridors was informed by nursing staff who pointed out crucial time lost to gathering medication, equipment and supplies. Helping teams to prepare for transition was also vital. The Grange University Hospital is at the centre of a fully transformed healthcare system, so as well as working in a new building, teams had to adjust to new operational procedures and models of care. We created a website to make the space available virtually in advance so that staff could undertake training and familiarisation long before they moved in.

Typical bedroom ensuite module

It’s been a privilege to see this project through from start to finish and a valuable learning experience to inform the design of the best healthcare facilities we can possibly create; efficiently, collaboratively, effectively. Innovative Cities

Making a City Move

Peter Jenkins, head of transport, describes how a new metro system will alleviate congestion and pollution in the capital of Bangladesh and stimulate economic prosperity.

100

Peter Jenkins

Dhaka – a city in logjam

Dhaka is the sixth most densely populated city in the world. The animated streets teem with vibrant activity, but they are also congested, hectic and unsafe for pedestrians. The numbers continue to surge; there are 400,000 migrant rickshaw drivers working in the city and 800,000 working in the textile industry. Almost 22 million people live in its urban area, predicted to reach 31.2 million by 2035. However despite its issues with poverty and overpopulation, Dhaka remains the largest and most powerful economy in Bangladesh, contributing 40% of the country’s GDP.

A combination of climate-induced displacement and migration and the city’s rapid, unplanned urbanisation has left the transportation infrastructure under severe pressure. The national government and overseas investors are responding to this unprecedented growth by proposing a network of modern and efficient public metro systems in the major cities throughout the country. We are designing nine underground stations for Dhaka Metro Line 5, which will cross the heart of the city from west to east. In collaboration with Nippon Koei, it is our first project in Bangladesh, and draws on our experience of designing significant transport projects such as Glasgow Queen Street Station and Whitechapel Station on the Elizabeth Line in London. Dhaka’s new infrastructure, including the emerging metro network, looks towards the bright future of the country and its people, and our design concepts respect the traditional values and distinct characteristics of Dhakaite culture, supporting the localism and micro-business networks that contribute positively to the life and animation of the city. Hawker stalls are integrated into station entrance designs, sheltered by oversailing canopies which also provide covered waiting areas for auto rickshaws. With motors bolted onto tricycle frames, upgraded from their historic pedal-driven antecedents, these richly decorated one or two person chariots buzz through traffic providing a vital part of the local transport infrastructure: the last mile connections to individual homes. By carefully clustering uses together on this micro-scale we create multi-modal interchanges which become the focus of local life. This in turn triggers development on surrounding sites across a variety of scales – from individual buildings to streets and city masterplans. As with all transport infrastructure, each individual metro station can act as the catalyst for transit oriented developments, stimulating inspiring modern places that embrace the history of the city and its local neighbourhoods. It is important to root the stations within their context so we have developed a design which combines specific solutions unique to each neighbourhood with standard coherent unifying elements along the entire Metro line. Station entrances complement their surroundings through the use of materials, structure and size whilst sharing standard features such as signage. The character of each station changes as passengers descend towards the platforms, with surface textures and details that repeat across the network to support easy wayfinding and reinforce a familiar recognisable pattern for passengers. Our interdisciplinary team composed of professionals from Manchester, New Delhi and Dhaka are combining their global experience in transport with their local and regional knowledge to define the cultural and climatic fit with a city as vast and complex as Dhaka. With engineering solutions from our colleagues Nippon Koei in Japan, this is a major international effort – and what it takes to truly make a city move.

New metro station and transformed public realm

Innovative Cities

101

Head of sci-tech, Keith Papa, relates how our design philosophy for the world’s most complex sci-tech buildings has been informed by advancements over the last 60 years in practice.

Manchester Metropolitan University, Science and Engineering Building

Conquering the Complex

ICI Wilton

engineers in a collaborative powerhouse of teaching and research. The trinity of giant science collaborations is completed by the Cavendish III project – a new home for the University of Cambridge’s Department of Physics. Research at sub-atomic levels will take place here, requiring a stable and unique design to incorporate a range of laboratories, offices, cleanrooms, workshops and collaborative learning spaces and multiple lecture theatres.

BDP was formed to deliver complex building types and throughout every decade of our 60-year history we have worked to develop the best science and technology buildings in the UK.

Collaboration feels like the word of the millennium. It is embedded in the culture and history of BDP and is particularly relevant in designing for science and technology. Taking a genuine collective approach working together with the scientists and users has typified our co-creationist approach in developing buildings such as the School of Physics, Engineering and Computer Science at the University of Hertfordshire which brings together a range of disciplines to conceive, design, implement and operate technologies of the future.

Today, our work in this sector has come full circle with the upcoming completion of the new global R&D centre and HQ for AstraZeneca on the Cambridge Biomedical Campus. It’s a new embodiment of the same themes which led to the creation of the Wilton Centre and delivers a highly complex set of requirements within a beautiful and singular architectural form. Also reaching completion is the largest higher education science project in the UK; the Manchester Engineering Campus brings together the university’s

University of Hertfordshire, SPECS Building

The Department of Chemical Engineering and Nuclear Science at the University of Bradford, a bold expression of formal concrete rationalism, was one of the first buildings produced by the freshly forged partnership in 1965 and is still in use today. The red brick industrial modernist Wilton Centre for ICI, which spawned Zeneca Group plc, followed in the 1970s – now repurposed as one of the largest integrated science parks in the UK. During the 1980s and 1990s a dedicated Advanced Technologies division was established to produce industrial manufacturing plants required to make silicon chips and computer hard drives for Seagate, Fujitsu and some of the world’s modern technology pioneers. This led to three strands of work in the new millennium: advanced bioscience manufacturing such as The National Blood Service and Lifescan; commercial science facilities for Roche Pharmaceuticals and the development of several new science research facilities for the University of Cambridge and Dstl.

As a collective of architects and engineers, we are always at our most intelligent when we work together but even then, we cannot deem to define and render explicable a quark. Just as our science and technology clients cannot define and render explicable a building design. So only together can we understand the requirements and design the facilities that deliver the scientific discoveries of the future. This new decade has heralded a desire for science parks to transform into larger, more collaborative hubs, incorporating housing and fostering a community spirit where a wide range of people can socialise as a collective, sharing research and business ideas. The masterplans and hub buildings at Alderley Park and the Fosterhill campus in Aberdeen exemplify this approach, designed to support no single entity but to encourage all scientists and engineers to work together for the greater good.

AstraZeneca’s Global R&D Centre and Corporate HQ, Cambridge

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University of Manchester, Manchester Engineering Campus

Add to this our experience of developing higher education research campuses, at Coventry, Warwick, York, Manchester, Aberdeen and Cambridge and you start to see the formation of a backbone for collaborative research facilities across the UK. And as we look to the future of design, we continually work to shift and optimise our thinking around these complex campuses and important buildings. We know that science and technology buildings generally consume large amounts of energy to keep researchers safe, maintain challenging environmental conditions and drive machines and equipment. This is fundamental to delivering scientific advancement, but we owe it to future generations to reduce environmental impact by creating efficient, low energy and zero carbon facilities. We have developed tools and techniques to test, challenge and refine energy demand, together with operational and embodied carbon emissions. This research has enabled us to design a 40,000m2 plant and microbial science research laboratory which aims to achieve a net zero carbon rating over 25 years. The prediction, modelling, testing and implementation of carbon emission measurement brings our teams closer to the research and development techniques of our science and technology clients and can seem as much of a dark art as quantum theory – yet, in the same way that the latter enables our smart phones and computers, the development of our low carbon toolkit will enable net zero carbon future for us all. We look forward to seeing what the next 60 years of science and technology will bring.

John Innes Centre, Net Zero Lab

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Ideas

Rethinking Multi-Unit Residential: Imagining the Future of Living

In 2018 the United Nations estimated that 55% of the world’s population lived in urban areas and that by 2050 this could increase to 68%. In many urban centres the demand for housing is driving up land and construction costs and as a result unit sizes continue to shrink to remain affordable. The situation has reached breaking point. Floor plans can only be squeezed so much before the quality and functionality of the space is sacrificed.

When the Covid-19 pandemic hit and we found ourselves isolating at home while trying to juggle all our normal day-today functions, it underscored the importance of improving the at home wellness experience and finding creative ways to maximise functionality within a limited square footage. In addition to optimising the useability of spaces, we asked ourselves how the design of multi-unit residential can go even further – to support a sense of community and build

Options for the partition modules supporting a variety of live, work and play needs

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Dev Mehta

in social resilience, while still maintaining privacy and a safe distance if required. This thinking led to the exploration of highly flexible and adaptable unit layouts that could be adjusted to suit each resident’s varied and ever-changing needs, while enhancing quality and safety in parallel. We first proposed doing away with fixed rooms and set programmes, replacing static walls with moveable and customisable partition modules. In addition, increased floor-to-floor heights allows for infloor storage and provides flexibility for future changes to mechanical and electrical distribution. Fixed plumbing elements; kitchen, bathrooms and laundry are consolidated within the unit. The partition modules are designed with integrated functionality, such as storage, furniture, media units and communications platforms. Residents make their selection according to their lifestyle and retain the ability to change their spaces quickly if required. To cut down on construction timelines as well as reduce material waste, the modules will be prefabricated and delivered to site. In future, when more of us may need to work from our compact residences, the prospect of an adaptable household where work and play spaces can be easily separated cannot be underestimated. Outdoor spaces were also an important element in our analysis. Balconies are often underutilised due to their shallow proportions and exposure to harsh weather in winter months. Our solution is a semi-conditioned space between the interior living areas and balconies that acts as an extension, bringing the outside in, to a functional outdoor room. Conversely it can bring the inside out, to create a greenhouse or solarium. Balconies can be configured to create staggered yards, which also encourages meaningful connections with fellow residents in the vertical community. Design must play a big part in addressing the challenges and opportunities of living in a post-pandemic world. It can improve the physical and psychological contexts in which we live, work and play. It is clear that for individuals, families and communities, the future is flexible.

Changing spaces for changing lives

Section perspective through the future MURB unit looking at the combined plumbing spaces with raised access flooring throughout

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The tower overlooks and interacts with a new public park

[Left] North elevation showing articulated structure. [Right] South elevation showing vertical alleyway.

Baowu Tower, Pazhou Guangzhou The geometrical facades of the tower take inspiration from the DNA of Baowu Steel Group. The podium cantilever reinterprets the classic colonnade to form a welcoming entrance with clear views into the arrival lobby. Courtyard gardens reminiscent of traditional Chinese architecture house a variety of functions and facilities to promote rich street life. The vertical alleyway rising up the structure connects the different neighbourhoods of the building and also acts as a ventilation system, culminating at shared meeting spaces and a roof garden with city views. Innovative Cities

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Epsom and St Helier Hospital MMC Approach – Key Structural Elements

Civil and structural engineering director, John Roycroft takes a pragmatic look at modern methods of construction in hospital design, sharing his view on how intelligent engineering and material choices can enable quicker, more efficient building.

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Engineers, Assemble! John Roycroft

than demolishing. Delivering a progressive approach is about bringing different disciplines and approaches together to create something unique that’s assembled from readily available standard components. Renkioi Hospital – an early prefabricated timber construction (Isambard Kingdom Brunel)

Offsite manufacturing has been around for a very long time. The master of engineering, Isambard Kingdom Brunel, designed a prefabricated timber field hospital to treat injured soldiers in the Crimean war. He responded to a plea from Florence Nightingale to improve the environment for injured British soldiers at the Turkish Barracks with a design that enabled modern sanitation, ventilation, drainage and even rudimentary temperature control. It was built in Britain in five months then shipped and erected at Renkioi in the Dardenelles. It cared for 300 wounded, rising to more than 1,000 by the end of the year. The best ideas are those that are recycled, often generations later. As the healthcare sector continues to battle admirably through a global pandemic, speed of delivery and efficient, flexible hospital designs are very much in need: re-enter off site construction. Modern methods of construction like this could prove crucial in new hospital design, providing predictability and accuracy. They have the potential to improve product quality and increase productivity, enabling speedier build schedules and leaner budgets. But for projects to truly unlock the benefits of modern methods of construction, a shift in engineers’ approach to design is pivotal and an assembly mindset is key. I’m continually impressed by the benefits of precast concrete, prefabricated steel or even engineered timber post and beam structures, especially in complex designs. For example, when we use precast concrete we know the sort of quality we’ll get on the finish because the approach is so consistent. So offsite construction means we are improving quality as well as mitigating the impact of the weather and reducing the risk around forming concrete on site that is so dependent on workmanship. This is why offsite manufacturing is so compelling and it’s exactly why we should be embracing it.

Brunel recognised the urgency of the Renkioi prefabricated hospital and devoted his time and passion to create a place where many lives were saved. Using the benefit of modern technology and expert clinical insight, we are following in his footsteps; harnessing our knowledge and interdisciplinary thinking to swiftly deliver robust healthcare facilities for those most in need.

Epsom and St Helier Hospital – Early concept sketch of the ‘cocoon’

As a result, we are developing structural concepts with at least 90% offsite, modular or standardised component construction methods, ensuring a culture of component assembly rather than on site construction. We are even exploring how to reuse components from older, disused buildings in our designs. As we move towards a circular economy, and with the ability to use building information modelling to record materials, if a building becomes obsolete, we should be dismantling and reusing rather

The benefits of MMC are abundant and while we practise these philosophies across all sectors, we know we are uniquely placed to play a lead role in the delivery of new hospitals. The government is actively promoting modern construction approaches and standardised components across the NHS, with one MP advocating for its use so that hospitals can be more adaptable to keep up with rapid advances in medicine. Indeed, the most fundamental benefit of MMC is flexibility and the parallel options developed at feasibility stage give clients real choice. Most hospitals we are involved with are working towards an outline business case, with NHS trusts looking at scheme designs as they try to secure funding. This includes projects in Epsom, Watford and Leicester. We will bring new ideas and our experience of using MMC to these projects to help deliver new, modern hospitals on a national scale, faster, more cost effectively and with less impact on the environment.

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Celebrating the Future of Rail in Scotland Ed Dymock Architect Associate

There is a real buzz in the rail sector in Scotland right now. The Scottish Government, Transport Scotland, Network Rail, train operator companies and their supply chain all understand that getting rail right is essential to battle climate change.

Main passenger concourse – a new space in the city

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Ed Dymock

The remodelled station enhances the setting of the historic structure

Further decarbonisation of rail requires electrification of additional routes and where this is not viable or cannot be delivered quickly enough, the use of hydrogen and battery powered trains. The ambition is for wise, immediate and steady investment in these technologies but how do we ensure this works in practice? Although under a third of Scotland’s rail network is electrified, around 75% of Scotland’s passenger rail journeys already take place on electrified routes. The law of diminishing returns means that future investment in electrification and the alternatives, whilst essential, will not deliver the same number of greener journeys that previous investment did. To decarbonise Scotland’s transport infrastructure in line with their 2035 commitment, the Scottish Government’s biggest challenge is to deliver a modal shift from car to train, electric bus and active modes. But creating behavioural change is never easy. Key section – connecting the city to the platform

Improving access to the rail network and creating value for money is key, but so is the customer experience. Train frequency, punctuality, the convenience of reduced journey times, the provision of additional seats and the quality (and performance) of stations all need to contribute.

Tomorrow’s Living Station, a report by Network Rail, imagines the stations of the future. It suggests that they should be centres of people movement, support inclusive growth and form the heart of healthy communities. Stations should be catalysts for transit oriented economic growth. These themes will drive the decarbonisation of transport and a modal shift towards rail and active travel for the final mile. We need to stop thinking of station investment as being in buildings, but rather as investing in wider locales and communities. Stations should be celebrated as beacons of economic development and community identity, connectors to places and spaces where business, people and communities come together. ‘The station as a beacon’ was the design driver for Glasgow Queen Street. We viewed EGIP’s redevelopment of the station as an opportunity to assert Scotland’s confidence in the future of rail with a building that celebrates the passengers’ choice of transport. The station is not just a welcoming, accessible building that will cater for the predicted 90% increase in footfall, but it’s an extrovert place with a commanding civic presence – a building that brings delight and pride to all who use it. In September 2020 it was voted the nation’s favourite station in an online poll. We recognise that the architectural and spatial experience is a crucial part of the rail experience. For the arriving passenger, it’s a warm welcome to Glasgow. For the departing passenger it’s a physical gateway to the rail network. The gold anodised aluminium cladding on the new concourse roof makes a bold statement; a symbol for a rapidly greening transport network. Queen Street’s new concourse now connects its users to the site’s heritage, contributes to the identity of the city and makes a statement about Scotland’s transport priorities; something that a car journey or a car park could never do.

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The oversailing roof provides a warm welcome

West George Street entrance. (Photo: Lesley Monroe)

Dundas Street Entrance. (Photo: karmac123 on Instagram)

View of fanlight from east gateline. (Photo: Dustin Hosseini)

The city has embraced the reimagined station, triggering a wave of social media interest

View of the entrance ramp. (Photo: Paul King)

Concourse view looking toward ticket office. (Photo: Michael Wood)

West George Street Canopy. (Photo: Owen Gibbon)

Wren Hotel, Dublin (Barry McKenna)

Light – charcoal on paper (Freddie Ribeiro)

The Pencil and the Mouse

"One has had to interface with a variety of ever evolving software to forge a career in design over the last 25 years. However, I can honestly say—all these years of dextrous mouse usage later—that I am still at my articulate best with a 2B pencil in hand." Freddie Ribeiro, architect associate

Felt tip sketch for the Wardle Academy competition bid (David Euinton)

"Drawing is the artist’s most direct and spontaneous expression, a species of writing: it reveals his true personality." Edgar Degas I probably belong to that last generation of architects trained exclusively to conceive an idea with a pencil in hand and communicate it with pen and ink. Computer-aided design was a visible and intimidating presence on the horizon when I was a student; something to be suspicious of and yet get excited about. As we stood at the threshold of our careers, we knew we would have to embrace this entity which threatened to take over every aspect of our lives. It did. One has had to interface with a variety of ever evolving software to forge a career in design over the last 25 years. However, I can honestly say—all these years of dextrous mouse usage later—that I am still at my articulate best with a 2B pencil in hand.

ideas more effectively than a freehand drawing. When we put pencil to paper, we start with the kernel of an idea. To proceed, we need a follow-up idea, which pre-empts another and before we know it, a story unfolds. As children, we all draw. The artlessness of our childlike existence precludes adult sentiments like judgement and self-evaluation. It stems from a natural and almost instinctive need to communicate an idea or thought at a time when vocabulary is insufficient. The pencil or crayon becomes a natural extension of thoughts, feelings, fears and wonder. You think you know, but can’t always be sure what will emerge next. The hand completes what the mind begins. After all, the first mode of expression by our species was not writing, but drawing.

During one of the many webinars attended during the lockdown, I heard someone say, “If you want to know what others are thinking, read. If you want to know what you are thinking, write.” The thought resonated with me as I applied it to sketching. Nothing forces you to conceive and formulate

For those of us who became designers, this simple ability was honed as a powerful tool for developing and communicating a concept. A hand drawing can be observational, emotive or analytical. Each line drawn on paper conveys a message to the viewer as seen through the eyes of the artist. The artist

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relies on emotion, lived experience or a primal instinct to communicate the message – no design software can emulate that. However it can do other things; a digital drawing can test the insight a hand drawing strives to represent. The digital drawing will provide accuracy and precision, but not creativity. It allows you to redraw, replicate and experiment until the desired effect is achieved. Still, it will only show you the here and now, not the what might be. The Renaissance maverick Michelangelo once said “An artist must have his measuring tools not in the hand, but in the eye.” For any drawing, the composition, scale and perspective are composed by the eye, before the hand fleshes it out and this is what makes your drawing an extension of your personality. When a computer does it for you, you have traded in your freedom for subservience to technology. There are only so many ways computer-aided drawing can be different, for the computer is only as good as the set of instructions it receives. The flexibility in hand drawing also allows for differences in medium, material, style, convention – the means of expressing your personality. In recognition of the power of the drawing we recently launched a drawing competition across our global studios, the objective being to celebrate and encourage the importance of visual communication to tell a compelling story. The sheer variety of ways ideas were expressed was astonishing. Today, budget and time constraints impact the creator’s inspiration. What works well, I grudgingly admit, is a hybrid approach of the imaginative pencil gradually giving way to the speed and efficiency of the mouse. Since my days as a

iPad sketch of Epsom and St Helier Hospital (Dominic Hook)

student, technology has progressed beyond the mouse. The stylus and touch screen technology strive to generate an experience as close to the paint brush as possible. Using a paint brush has long been considered contemplative, even honourable, compared to the temporal and fleeting use of technology, but as designers we must learn to use it to our advantage. Henri Cartier-Bresson, the celebrated photographer and chronicler of the 20th century suggested that while photography is an immediate reaction, drawing is a ponderous meditative response. To this I add a postscript; the digital depiction is but a hurried impression of part of the narrative. It has its uses, yes, but not for the ages.

Digital model/Photoshop rendering of MKC Houtwijk, The Hague, NL (Simone Venditti/Kamila Momot)

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Digital model/Photoshop rendering of the Physics Faculty, Delft, NL (Simone Venditti/Matteo Gioacchini)

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Freddie Ribeiro

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The GGB Awards 2020

The GGB Awards are presented annually in honour of our founder, Sir George Grenfell Baines. Teams are invited to submit completed projects and the shortlisted schemes are visited by leaders from each of our professions. We complete many projects every year, each diverse in scale, use and location. They range from the adaptation and reuse of existing structures to new buildings pioneering environmental approaches to energy use. This signals a strong focus across the practice towards meeting the challenge of climate change. This year ten finalists were selected from a longlist of 18 entries. Every project visited was judged to be of extremely high quality, displaying design innovation and reflecting creative conversations with each respective client. The GGB Award is awarded to the project which demonstrates outstanding design quality and integration between professions. There are two additional awards, both selected from the shortlisted entries: Best Photograph Award, awarded to the photograph which is judged to have best captured the spirit of the design and the Best Drawing Award, awarded to the drawing which is judged to have best communicated the concept or experience of the design.

Judging Criteria People How well does the design respond to the opportunity of the activities? Place How well does the design respond to the opportunity of the site? Time How well does the design utilise modern methods to enhance design, construction and operation? Together do they combine the functional and experiential to tell a clear and compelling story?

"We must achieve the happiness factor in the places we create, as seen, used and delivered." George Grenfell Baines

The Judges

Chris Harding Chair

Mark Simpson Chair of Design

Francis Glare Chair of Town Planning and Urban Design

Michelle McDowell Chair of Civil and Structural Engineering

Benedict Zucchi Chair of Architecture

Andrew Swain-Smith Chair of Building Services Engineering

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GGB Awards Shortlisted Projects

Francis Holland School, London

Glasgow Queen Street Station

Clatterbridge Cancer Centre, Liverpool

West Gorton Community Park, Manchester

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GGB Awards

Lancaster Castle

80 Atlantic, Toronto

NHS Nightingale Hospitals

University of Birmingham Teaching and Learning Building

Vogelenzang, Rhenen

10.

Grange University Hospital, Newport

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Excel, London

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GGB Awards

GGB Award Winner 2020 Nightingale Hospitals

The judges were unanimous in the selection of Nightingale Hospitals as the outright winner. They were impressed by the outstanding vision and commitment to break down barriers and work collaboratively across all professions, together with the NHS, the army and other external teams. Their collective efforts resulted in the speedy and effective design and construction of six emergency hospitals for major cities across the UK.

G-Mex, Manchester

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Best Drawing

Daniel Walder, Ben Warren and Paul Bailey’s IKEA style instruction manual quickly and clearly communicates the key steps needed for the rapid design and construction of a large scale emergency hospital. Now considered a symbol of the role of design to meet societal challenges, this prototype drawing has been curated by the Museum of London and Victoria and Albert Museum. 128

GGB Awards

Best Drawing

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GGB Awards

Best Photograph

Philip Vile’s photograph of PwC’s new Birmingham office captures the multiple connections between the variety of social and integrated workspaces. Best Photograph

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Gotham City 2081 Design Competition The Judges

As part of our 60th anniversary celebrations, we ran an in-house comic book themed design competition centred around Gotham City (the home of Batman), giving all entrants the chance to win a one week placement in an international studio of their choice. Everyone from the BDP family was invited to leap into the future (60 years to be precise), and draw up new and exciting designs to transform Gotham City. We were looking for mind-blowing, thoughtprovoking and the most imaginative ideas possible, to show how Gotham could be turned into the world’s most progressive city in 2081. Entrants could use any medium of their choice and had the freedom to focus on a single element to illustrate their vision of the reformed Gotham. The judges were both awed and inspired by the quality of the submissions.

Duncan Baker-Brown Architect, Academic and Environmental Activist

Heather Rolleston BDP Quadrangle Principal Architect

Steve Merridew BDP Building Services Engineering Director

Nick Pigula BDP Senior Sustainability Consultant

Entrants

Special mentions

Adam Rich and Kamile Kesylyte

Alex Yung, London Alex’s passion was felt by all. The supporting video was delightful, powerful and evoked a strong emotional response in all of our judges. They admired the references to the Covid experience, which gave the submission a human touch.

Alex Yung

Aleksandra Wojciak Amanda Bryant

Aleksandra Wojciak, London An incredibly powerful single image with strong ideas executed. The judges really appreciated Aleksandra’s spirit and academic thinking.

Cassia Fillingham Felix Cheong

James Sinclair Lora Kaleva

Neil Hayward, Christina Zacharieva and Séan Dooley aka The Good, The Bad and The Criminal Nick Tyrer and Gabrielle Tester

Shubhajit Bagchi and Navanil Chattopadhyay

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James Sinclair, Manchester A huge effort was made, using a different medium from the other contestants to predict the future of Gotham. The scale model is absolutely beautiful and worthy of being exhibited in a prime position within one of our studios.

Gotham City 2081 Design Competition

1st Place: Nick Tyrer and Gabrielle Tester We wanted to propose a vision for the future of Gotham that remained true to its history, aligned to the fantastical world building and narrative of the DC universe. One that simultaneously addressed these core problems but was appropriate for the citizens of Gotham that had endured so much darkness and pain. A happy ending, a utopia for those that had endured the dystopia. If Batman were unable to resolve the systemic issues that made modern civilisation possible, then maybe someone else could… Our vision for the future of Gotham is that in the absence of Batman, Poison Ivy puts aside her previous hostility to compromise and work with humanity, using her powers across the entire city. We have aimed to illustrate firstly how this ‘green’ approach could address many of the systemic issues that plagued Gotham. We also explore how her fantastical power to control nature could be used both with architecture and as architecture.

Judges’ Comments Nick and Gabrielle bring the story into reality with architectural solutions that showcase a reformed Gotham Cityscape, demonstrating the physical environment in 2081. The judges admired the use of Poison Ivy (a force for good) who is able to do more than Batman, evoking a feeling of Girl Power. The team has taken blue sky thinking and turned their ideas into reality. They have clearly addressed the brief and demonstrated brilliant technical work with impressive simulations. They overcome the darkness and moodiness of Gotham City by allowing nature to take over, offering a more optimistic environment for the future. Gotham City 2081 Design Competition

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Gotham City 2081 Design Competition 2nd Place: Cassia Fillingham

Eschewing a punitive approach (which has clearly not worked in the past) I propose the construction of a self-governing community for the criminal fraternity on the old site of Arkham Asylum. Inspired in part by the enlightened and innovative approach to penal justice adopted by some Scandinavian countries the members of the community will be free to express and govern themselves, creating their own separate and unique vision of Gotham in turn.

Scarecrow – The Shock Shack

Catwoman – Nine Lives Tower

Joker – The Y (so serious)?

The Riddler – The Rubikon

Swamp Thing – The Ooze-eum

Mr. Freeze – The Freezing Point

Ra's al Ghul – The Lazarus Pad

Harlequin – The Big Top

Poison Ivy – Hedera

Penguin – Snowball Hall

Should it go wrong, secret failsafe measures exist influenced by John Carpenter’s ‘Escape from New York’.

[Above] The old site of Arkham Asylum [Below] The communal space

Judges’ Comments Bonkers, fun, creative and very clever, Cassia addresses the key issues in Gotham City, presenting a rather dark prisoner-focussed scenario. The concept is easy to understand and very well presented. Cassia has designed a series of unique pavilions and cleverly woven in communal land themes. 134

Gotham City 2081 Design Competition

3rd Place: Adam Rich and Kamile Kesylyte The project envisions the transformation of Gotham City into a prosperous coastal metropolis. A new masterplan proposes a concentric layout featuring a network of waterways, primarily to mitigate against the increasing influence of the urban heat island effect. A variety of canal edge designs provides diverse urban realm featuring low-lying sacrificial land in case of tidal surge and/or flash flooding. A major new waterfront park restores lost local ecosystems to the city whilst improving stormwater management. [Above] Street Scene Sectional Perspective [Below] Gotham 2081 Masterplan

A safe, smart and social vision for Gotham City 2081. Judges’ Comments Spot on and extremely comprehensive. Ticked all the boxes. The submission is beautifully illustrated, revealing a clear urban infrastructure reminiscent of a European city such as Amsterdam. Adam and Kamile have demonstrated examples of excellent transport links, resilience and public safety.

[Above] Iterative Embankment Design [Below] Typical Street Section

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Awards Residential

Bata Shoe Factory took home the Best Small Project at the Brownie Awards, an SABmag Canadian Green Building Award and was named an Interior Design Best of Year Honouree

Healthcare Healthcare

Grange University Hospital won Offsite and Digital Construction at Constructing Excellence Awards

Nightingale hospitals were acknowledged by Outstanding Contribution at BCIA, Proud to Help at Building Awards, special awards at Constructing Excellence regional awards, Winner of Winners and Civic Development at Bristol Property Awards, and the Covid-19 Achievement Award at CIBSE Building Performance Awards

Healthcare Healthcare

Southmead Hospital won the prize for Design Excellence at the Planning Awards

Clatterbridge Cancer Centre won Project of Year at North West Regional Construction Awards and Hospital Building at the Health Business Awards Education

Education

Maidenhill Primary School and Nursery took home the Architectural Excellence category for Public Use at the Scottish Property Awards

Centre for Creative Learning at Francis Holland School won the Wellbeing prize at the New London Architecture Awards

Alliance Manchester Business School won a regional RICS Social Impact Award

Education

UCL Student Centre, on which our engineers collaborated with Nicholas Hare Architects, won the Prix Versailles Special Prize

Education

Harris Academy, on which our engineers collaborated with Architype, won the building performance category at Building Awards 136

Education

Awards

Workplace

80 Atlantic won the Office Development and Green Development of the Year at the Rex Awards, a Canadian Green Building award and a Mass Timber Wood Design award from WoodWORKS! Ontario, and a Citation Award at the Wood Design & Building Awards

Workplace

Hullmark Head Office took the Award of Excellence in the Innovation in Workplace Design category at the Interior Designers of Canada’s Value of Design Awards

Leisure and culture

Aberdeen Music Hall won the Conservation category at Aberdeen Society of Architects Awards

Retail People

People

Michelle McDowell won the Lifetime Achievement Award and Lucy Townsend won Best Woman in Environment and Sustainability at the European Women in Construction and Engineering Awards

Senior Associate and Specification Specialist Kaz Kanani and Director of Business Development Jesse Klimitz were both winners in the Construction Canada Emerging Leader Awards

Royal Hibernian Way won Retail Fit-out at Fit-Out Awards Ireland

Urbanism and landscape

Clanbrassil Street won a Leinster Regional Award at ULICBRE Excellence in Placemaking Urbanism and landscape

Nanjing Xianlin Yangshan Retail Street won the 4th REARD Global Design Award

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Chief Executive’s Review of the year It is in times of crisis that BDP’s true spirit and resilience shines through. I suspect that we have just faced the most challenging 12 months in our 60 year history but each of our studios has risen to meet the enormous trials posed by the coronavirus pandemic with fortitude, flexibility and understanding. Of course, we must acknowledge how difficult this year has been for so many people and we are highly conscious of the devastating impact this health crisis has had on so many of our colleagues, clients and partners. But of all the emotions experienced over the past year, the predominant sense I have is pride in being part of the leadership team for such an extraordinary practice. Our ethos of collaboration and interdisciplinary team working has never been stronger and has never served us so well. As we celebrate 60 years of the practice, I am about to celebrate 36 years of working in BDP, so I have been around for exactly 60% of our remarkable journey. In that time everything has changed and nothing has changed. It was still the days of Rotring pens, tracing paper, razor blades and dyeline prints. The practice’s turnover was £22m (equivalent to £46m in today’s terms) and we had a huge team working on the Channel Tunnel UK Terminal. While the design process, technology support and procurement of buildings has changed radically over those years, the essential spirit of BDP has not. The organisation I joined in 1985 was creative, user-inspired, collaborative and highly supportive of one another. That aspect of our culture will never change. We recently published our results for the financial year ended 30 June 2020. The practice achieved revenues of £131.3m (up 22.9% on the previous year) and a pre-tax operating profit of £13.3m (up 40% on the previous year). These results benefit from a full 12-month input from our Toronto studio – BDP Quadrangle – which joined the BDP group in February 2019. For the first nine months of the year to 30 June 2020 we had developed outstanding momentum with very strong demand for our services across the globe. However, in line with most other consultants, the last three months of the financial year were negatively impacted by the pandemic and associated lockdown.

work-life balance issues and personal fulfilment to delegation and employee empowerment, progressive companies are rethinking their future workplace. Nevertheless some traditional practices exist for very good reasons. A balance of office and remote work will satisfy the needs of our clients and our project commitments but completely separating staff from one another will undermine essential collaboration, teamwork and productivity. There may be certain circumstances in which remote work is feasible and even preferable, but given the huge advantages of face to face collaboration and interaction in the design environment, these situations should be taken as exceptions rather than the rule. Our approach in the post-pandemic new normal will be to find an optimal combination of studio-based and remote work that best helps the practice to achieve its goals. I believe that the pandemic has given such stark notice of our fragility that it will move humanity much quicker in the direction of sustainable solutions to the global threat of climate change. Like the pandemic, our response to this peril will change the arc of our lives. The last year has reminded us how the biggest crises, be they medical, economic or environmental, demand a world-wide, coordinated response. As society and governments struggle to tackle the problem of climate change, the design consultancy community faces an immense responsibility – and some might argue a monumental opportunity – to make an impact. We must guide our design teams and our clients on climate-adaptive strategies, setting ever higher environmental goals for all of our projects. As we begin to emerge from the darkest days of the pandemic, we look towards the challenges of the next decade of our history with renewed energy and optimism. A huge thank you to everyone in BDP and to our valued clients and partners for your incredible support over the past year. John McManus, Chief Executive

We are currently structuring a new Three Year Plan for the practice and I am encouraged by the fairly high degree of optimism expressed by our studios in relation to our prospects for the second half of 2021. There is no doubt that this crisis will bring about permanent change in our working practices and particularly so in relation to remote working opportunities. Many work management routines and attitudes have been rendered obsolete by our experiences in working through the pandemic. From the recognition of 138

Chief Executive’s Review of the year

Picture Credits Nick Caville Bharat Aggerwal David Barbour Commission Air Doublespace Photography Sanna Fisher-Payne Gareth Gardner Martine Hamilton-Knight Hufton+Crow Paul Karalius Marie Louise Halpenny Tom Niven Scott Norsworthy Olavs Silis Philip Vile Michael Whitestone Terrence Zhang Editorial and Design Russell Eggar Chris Harding Jack Lambert Julianne McAtarsney Helen Moorhouse Sharon Steward

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BDP 2021 The Big Conversation

Articles inside

Chief Executive's Review Of The Year

Celebrating The Future Of Rail In Scotland

The Pencil And The Mouse

Rethinking Multi-Unit Residential: Imagining The Future Of Living

Engineers, Assemble

Conquering The Complex

Making A City Move

The Making Of A Super-Hospital

Why Nature-Inclusive Development Matters

A Mayfair Medley

Introducing The Hyper-Local High Street

The Electric Ireland

Sustainability In Practice

What's The Value Of Social Value?

Soaking Up The Pressure

Life Lessons For Learning

Reimagining Age-Friendly Living

Ever The Optimist

Reina: Queen Of The Condos

The Return Of The Fun Palace

Powerful Placemaking

Progressive Paediatrics

The Arish Pocket

What's In Store For Our High Streets?

Building On Our Values

Reconfiguring Retail

Happy Anniversary Dublin Studio

A Gathering Of Idealists

Crisis, Care And Collaboration

Future Trends