Institute for Sustianability Case Study

LONDON THAMES GATEWAY
INSTITUTE FOR SUSTAINABILITY
Location: Sustainable Industries Park,
Dagenham Docks, London, UK
Client: London Thames Gateway
Development Corporation (LTGDC)
Appointed: October 2009
Size: 3242sqm
Anticipated construction cost: £7.5m
BREEAM rating: Designed to Outstanding
The Thames Gateway Institute for Sustainability (TGIfS) is one of a
series of our projects that create built environments conducive to
research and knowledge transfer.
This project was to provide space for applied research into green
technology in a building which would itself demonstrate a very high
level of sustainable performance.
The vision for the TGIfS was to support high quality collaborative
multidisciplinary research between universities in the region, their
corporate research and technology organisations and sustainable
industries located in the Thames Gateway. Research activities
support innovative marketable ideas in a virtuous cycle, and so the
Institute would also have supported business incubation.
The building was to be located at the heart of the new London
Sustainable Industries Park (SIP) at Dagenham Dock and provide
adaptable accommodation for research, development and
application projects being undertaken by the partners in the
Institute and associated groups. Because its activities would have
changed and evolved over time the building was designed to be
highly adaptable to changing needs, but at the heart of its plan
were areas to stimulate and foster interaction between the users.
Above: Cutaway axonometric drawing of the proposed Institute for Sustainability
Institute for Sustainability
CULLINAN STUDIO
Collaboration
The vision for the building was to foster interaction and to stimulate
innovation and creativity. We used the ideas about collaboration to
plan the internal spaces of the building. To encourage knowledge
transfer, which was key to the spirit of the IFS, breakout spaces
were placed at first floor level between the research spaces and the
offices. As well as a place to have a coffee and an informal meeting,
they would allow a visual connection to the reserach areas to
stimulate discussion and create a sense of activity.
Above: View of IFS from pathway alongside the Hub.
Climate
The aspiration was to achieve a BREEAM Outstanding rating as a
minimum, to reflect the best practice in sustainable design and
management and be seen as an international exemplar. The
predicted assessment met this target at 87.65%, within a very
modest budget. This was largely achieved through passive means,
such as orientation.
The IFS would have been constructed using cross-laminated timber
(CLT) panels and Hemcrete external insulation. Timber sequesters
carbon so that compared with the equivalent structure made of
concrete or steel it would perform much better. By providing the
complete envelope it would make the necessary very low air
infiltration rate easier to achieve. Hemcrete insulation, a mixture of
hemp fibre and lime-based binder, absorbs CO2 in its manufacture
and, unlike other insulants, has thermal inertia which compensates
for the lower thermal mass of the timber.
Above: A Solar Wall system on the south facade
would collect solar energy to heat the building.
A Solar Wall system to the south elevation would have collected
solar energy and used it for preheating the ventilation air to the
research hall. The perforated dark metal cladding would have been
fixed off the Hemcrete leaving an air gap between to trap the sun’s
heat to pre-heat the air. In summer the system shades the wall to
avoid excessive heat build-up from direct sunlight, with dampers to
discharge the heated air at the top of the wall.
Above: The IFS would have been constructed using cross laminated timber panels and Hemcrete external insulation.
Institute for Sustianability
CULLINAN STUDIO
Above: Roof plan
void over
reception/
exhibition
4m high flexible office
4m high IFS office
breakout
IFS
meeting boardroom
room
cafe
gallery breakout
void over
9m high
workshop
Above: First floor plan - breakout spaces/meeting areas allow a view into the larger scale research space.
4m high workshop
4m high workshop
electric
switch
room
AHU plant room
reception/exhibition
entrance
tenants’
store/
plant room
9m high workshop
Above: Ground floor plan - large scale buffer space to south, smaller scale working spaces to north
Institute for Sustainability
CULLINAN STUDIO