Sustainability & Building Physics

The project retains 150 years of embodied carbon, providing a low-energy, low-carbon workspace for the future. The building has been designed to BREEAM Excellent under the BREEAM UK refurbishment and fit-out assessment criteria (2014). We respected the existing structure and kept changes to a minimum, inevitably this posed constraints to massing and orientation, so our passive design strategy relies on excellent natural light and ventilation through opening windows and rooflights, well insulated roofs and floors and the significant thermal mass of the retained brick walls. 63 rooftop PV panels are combined with air-source heat pumps to maximise renewable energy. The building operates on electricity only, future proofed for a net-zero carbon grid. Currently, the predicted operational energy use is above the RIBA 2030 operational energy target of 55kWh/m2/year.

New staircase treads are made from locally sourced reclaimed Jarrah, a hardwood with a characteristic red and brown colour. Waste to landfill was avoided by dismantling and reusing old joinery from 78 Chamber Street, our old offices in Aldgate. To ensure storage met our present requirements and allowed us to grow, new joinery was commissioned to the same specification, avoiding wholesale replacement. The professional grade kitchen which adjoins the ‘luncHTAbles’ has been designed around existing equipment, also from our old office, enabling its reuse into the future.

Retention of our industrial heritage is a circular act. Care was taken to maintain and extend the life of the brick envelope on the recommendation of a conservation specialist who advocated for exposed brick as a strategy to address damp. Bricks that were removed to create new links between the four original warehouse buildings were repurposed to fill gaps in the building walls. We retained and repaired authentic timber columns in the lunch space, balancing disability compliant, flat level access to the second floor of the building, whilst achieving compliant ceiling clearances was a clear challenge which required an adjusted floor level directly above. Our careful approach ensured most of the columns and their embodied carbon could be preserved.