Sector: Offices

Location: London, UK

Architect: Foster + Partners

The European headquarters for Bloomberg is one of the world’s most environmentally-friendly office buildings.

Designed by Foster + Partners for a 3.2-acre site in the heart of the City of London, the scheme comprises a pair of connected 10-storey stone volumes linked by aerial bridges. It hosts some 1.1 million square feet of office

space – as well as a new entrance to Bank Underground station, cafes and restaurants, two public plazas, and

a museum dedicated to the Roman archaeologic site it stands upon.

With a BREEAM rating of ‘Outstanding’ at a score of 99.1%, the building has been designed to deliver significant savings in water and energy consumption. Bronze fins set into the stone facades open and close in accordance with weather conditions to ventilate the space, while a smart device controls air distribution in

accordance with the number of people using the building at any one time.

Rainwater is collected from the roof, basins and showers to service vacuum flush toilets, and ceilings are covered in

2.5 million polished aluminium ‘petals’ that regulate acoustics, as well as temperature and light. A 210-metre

bronze ramp winds through six floors of the open-plan office furnished with sit-stand desks, encouraging staff

to walk rather than use the lift and perhaps meet a colleague on the way.

When the Royal Institute of British Architects awarded the building its prestigious Stirling Prize in 2018,

then-president Ben Derbyshire said the scheme had “not just raised the bar for office design and city planning, but smashed the ceiling”. Kingspan was commissioned to

create a bespoke American red oaktopped flooring system that would meet the demands of the design

and its sustainability targets.

The starting point was the existing TLM6 access floor system, which creates an accessible void for services beneath. But due to the building’s open floor plate,

the design called for much larger, 576 x 1334mm panels than the standard 600 x 600mm dimensions of the product, and with this increase in scale came fragility – presenting the team with its first opportunity to innovate.

The team needed to ‘think outside the box’ to create a more robust panel that would reduce waste through damage during installation and cost less to replace because of wear and tear in the future.

After rigorous testing, the technicians eschewed the typical solution of bonding timber veneers onto the boards altogether. Instead, they settled on using two separate systems – using the standard modular TLM26 access floor system below a newly-developed magnetised timber covering. “It provided everything the designers and client wanted – a timber floor finish with a homogenous aesthetic, ease of access into the floor void, ease of replacement in the event of damage and a reduction in construction phase and long-term waste,” says Devereux.

Some 34,000 square metres of this Attiro magnet-backed engineered timber overlay was laid over 37,000

square metres of the TLM26 access floor system to create floors throughout the building. On-site cutting of the

materials – all FSC certified – meant offcuts could be used elsewhere in the project, reducing waste in the installation process. “If one timber stave on a pre-bonded panel was damaged, 0.77 square metres of timber plus the panel would have to be replaced and disposed, whereas with the magnetic Attiro only 0.23 square metres would have to be replaced,” says Devereux

Interior designer Susanne Sudholz (née Martitz) set out to design an unconventional, eye-catching and energy-efficient home for her family. With a passion for sustainable building design, Sudholz selected the Kingspan insulated roof and wall panels for both their aesthetics and their environmental credentials.

Click here to continue reading. 

Sector: Residential

Location: Bath, UK

Architect: Nash Partnership

Photography: Grant Frazer Photography

Situated in the Bath Conservation Area, the stunning grade II listed building has been renovated and expanded by Acorn Property Group to create a series of luxury apartments and homes.

The main building, which previously served as an all-girls high school, has been carefully converted into apartments. The grounds were divided into four residential quarters and several new build homes were constructed around the main building to offer a variety of accommodation options.

Architects, Nash Partnership, were mindful to ensure that the additional properties would be in keeping with the area. The building exterior references Bath’s famed Georgian aesthetic whilst internal spaces include all the benefits of modern construction.

To optimise space within the properties whilst ensuring they meet modern thermal performance standards, Kingspan Kooltherm® K108 Cavity Board was specified for the walls of the new buildings whilst Kingspan Kooltherm K7 Pitched Roof Board was chosen for the pitched roofs – minimising heat loss whilst maintaining head height in the top floor rooms.

Sector: Offices

Location: San Francisco, California, USA

Architects: Skidmore Owings & Merrill / Gensler / Mark Cavagnero Associates

350 Mission Street represents the new headquarters of cloud computing giant Salesforce.

At 492,000-square-feet, 350 Mission Street is San Francisco’s first LEED Platinum high rise, and that focus on sustainability was the driving factor behind every decision made on this project. Chris Heimburger, Senior Vice President of Development for developer Kilroy, describes the goal of the project as the creation of a “high performance work environment” in every aspect from employee performance to optimised operating costs.

One of the key factors in achieving these goals was the utilisation of underfloor service distribution (UFAD). Using UFAD allowed for 100% filtered outside air to be brought into the building and distributed in an energy-efficient method. Running power and cable through the plenum allowed for the creation of a greater floor-to-ceiling height which increased overhead space for employees and allowed larger windows for improved daylighting.

Click here to read more. 

Following 2015 research data which showed that buildings in New York City were responsible for 67% of the city’s greenhouse gas emissions, New York officials updated their energy efficiency standards for both new and existing buildings.

A historic 34-strorey high rise on Manhattan’s 5th Avenue was due for renovation, specifically a roofing remodel on a particular floor to improve the building’s performance. With the new standards in place set by the New York City Energy Conservation Code, a retrofit was needed to achieve these standards.

This project came with significant design challenges for the building owner. The addition of multiple layers of insulation would require significant renovations to the roof, and the additional thickness from the introduction of insulation posed challenges in ensuring railings were at an adequate height.

There was also the major issue of the need to vacate space around the works during periods of heavy activity. This would require moving some tenants out for a period of six to nine months – causing significant disruption for them as well as loss of income for the building’s owner.

In looking for a solution which would cost less, save time and meet the regulations the building owner chose next generation Kingspan OPTIM-R insulation. Designed for projects which require creative solutions, Kingspan OPTIM-R is ultra-thin and perfect for retrofit applications.

The insulation did not affect the railing details or impact on roof pavers and door thresholds. This meant heavy renovation works were not required and therefore no need for tenants to vacate the building. With New York City also facing a labour shortage at the time, the opportunity to cut down on project time meant that contractors had the leeway to ensure the best workers were on the job.

With over 3 months saved in construction time, a higher-performing building and cost-savings of over $1.2 million – the 5th Avenue retrofit represents an excellent example of how a creative, next-generation product can offer the solutions clients need without negatively affecting quality.

Click here to learn more. 

Winston-Salem, the City of Arts and Innovation, has a new facility for artists. Designed to be an economic catalyst for neighbourhood growth, the 14,500-square foot Art for Art’s Sake (AFAS) building features two galleries, an art centre for community education, artist studios for rent, an AFAS board room, event space, leased office space and an outdoor sculpture garden on the building’s front lawn. Together, the unique campus provides a new indoor/outdoor venue for the city, furthering the non-profit AFAS mission to “build, educate and celebrate” community through art.

By cladding the building with UniQuad panels in ice white matte over ice white matte, the UniQuad system met Stitch Design Shop’s energy performance needs and desired look – all in a single panel design.

CLick here to learn more. 

Featured on RTE 1 on Sunday, the episode showcased an incredible building project from the presenter, Baz Ashmawy, and his team of volunteers for Tipperary woman, Sinead Barry and her family.

Sinead’s husband, Michael (34), tragically passed away after a very short battle with cancer whilst self-building their dream home. For five years, Michael had been self-building their house, and when he fell ill and sadly passed away in March 2019, the home was unfinished.

Baz and the team from DIY SOS The Big Build Ireland stepped up to help complete the new build last year, creating an incredible family home for Sinead and her three young children.

Click here to continue reading.

Sector: Offices

Location: Austin, Texas, USA

Architect: Gensler

Photography: Dror Baldinger FAIA Architectural Photography

In the heart of East Austin, Texas, on the site of a former recycling centre, new type of shared office space is utilising elements from the former warehouses of the neighbourhood. UpCycle repurposes almost all of the original 1972 warehouse building.

The building becomes energy efficient by using Kingspan Karrier Panel under this skin, insulating the building envelope. The ethos of the building seeks to highlight its industrial past, and even includes a repurposed train car which serves as a front porch lounge equipped with seating, WiFi and music.

Click here to learn more. 

Welcoming users to a new 6,500 space parking structure are a “garden” of translucent polycarbonate canopies that sprout up around the entry/exit escalators and protect guests from the elements while treating them to some playful architecture as they make their way to the playland that is Disneyland Resort.

Other canopies on the property shield users from sun and rain, while still allowing for a bright, light and welcoming space underneath.

Click here to read more.