Designing a New Building – ‘Fabric first’ basics inform the evolving architecture in every way from orientation and massing, to solar shading and envelope build-up. As a design develops, its sustainability strategy is reviewed, improved, and expanded at scheduled Stage Reviews; this iterative process of improvement allows the optimal sustainable design to be produced inside potential constraints and working to the client’s design aspirations.

The Importance of Retrofit – Buildings often have a lot of embodied carbon; meaning, the materials and processes used to construct them produced carbon dioxide. Because of this, at HL we consider the full life cycle of the building and strive not only for it to be sustainable in operation, but also in construction and eventually demolition. This highlights the importance of retrofitting. Whilst adapting or retrofitting may limit a building’s potential operational sustainability, when considering the full life cycle of the building, this may be more sustainable.

Conservation and Sustainability Conservation of historic buildings often plays a role in the decision to retrofit as opposed to demolish. Whilst the constraints of a listed building can challenge the potential green credentials of the new design, the principles outlined in our approach to designing a new building are still applied.

Carbon Modelling – Post completion data collection is expected to soon become standard practice in the construction industry. This will allow the projected/ planned energy demands of a building to be compared to the actual measured energy demands.

BIM and Sustainability – Our use of BIM software allows us to fully co-ordinate design with contractors and other industry professionals, creating efficiency and ensuring all designers can work cohesively in implementing chosen sustainability strategies.