Building Blocks goes to Parliament | Regenerative Architecture Index entry opens | Futurebuild Industry Insider Newsletter 352
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What does it mean to be a good ancestor? And how does one become one? This is a question we have been thinking about with UK Architect’s Declare, as we began to formulate the Regenerative Architecture Index. This is a pertinent question to ask ourselves today, particularly in the aftermath of the 2023 Stockholm Resilience Centre that revealed we’ve breached six of nine planetary boundaries essential for our survival. Despite decades of sustainability efforts, we find ourselves on a destructive path, prioritising short-term gains over long-term sustainability.?
And so we must look into the future – well into the future in fact. The ethos of regenerative design can begin to address this. The approach embodies a holistic mindset, acknowledging the interconnectedness of all systems and calls for “seventh generation” thinking, urging us to consider the impact of our actions on future generations, spanning centuries. We’re encouraging practices to take part in the world’s first Regenerative Architecture Index (you can do so here ) – and, still thinking of longevity, we’re celebrating buildings that have stood the test of time with the AT Awards . We only consider projects that have been in use for at least three years and can demonstrate a strong track record for delivering on their environmental, functional, community, and cultural ambitions.
Your planet needs you: a new kind of national service for a carbon-conscious age
Last month, UK Architects Declare presented Parliament with Building Blocks, a manifesto to transform the built environment in response to the threat of climate catastrophe. The document sets out a series of policy recommendations designed to deliver three key targets: prioritising resource efficiency, kickstarting the circular economy, and restoring social and natural infrastructure. Optimistic in tone, it predicts that a transition to a circular economy could deliver a public policy bonanza: an ￡82 billion boost to the economy; up to 725,000 low-carbon sector jobs; a ￡1.3 billion saving to the NHS through retrofitting cold homes.
Oak Cancer Centre
It was an inauspicious start. I arrived at a sea of car parking, at what I thought was a front door to the large and sprawling web of machine-like mechanisms – wrapped, almost apologetically, in dreary skins – that pertain to be architecture. My taxi driver asked if we were near an entrance. The member of staff asked if I was well enough to walk. Having explained I wasn’t a patient, I was directed to a well-concealed door that led to the children’s cancer ward. And so I found my way to the architects and client who were waiting to receive me in the light-filled and surprisingly buzzing lobby of the Oak Cancer Centre.
My first request was that we exit the building, so I could discover the way their new building should have been approached. As we walked away, we met more architects – from another practice – who were there to be interviewed for a new masterplan. They assumed that myself and Benedict Zucchi and Dominic Hook from BDP were competing for the same. We were not. I was the interloper, there to review the building, whilst Benedict and Dominic are the architects for both the Oak Cancer Centre and the new hospital, just starting on site, that will help define the western gateway from the suburban streets. BDP have already produced a masterplan inspired by the potential to expand the Oak Centre, to engage their first building with their second, and to engage both with the other recent buildings that, until now, have been slotted like new teeth into a chaotic mouth free of orthodontic design.
I’m taking a stand for recognising the need for a built environment that:
1) Isn’t merely reducing its negative impacts, but has positive impacts for today and the long term.
2) Understands that we are part of nature, within integral living systems, not separate from it.
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3) Can foster a shared sense of stewardship and civic pride.
Metal is known for having high embodied carbon, but it possesses outstanding circularity properties. Metal is infinitely recyclable and has proven to be durable for many decades, even centuries. Because of these decisive advantages, combined with recent developments in steel production using renewable energy-powered electric arc furnaces, SAS remains committed to metal as the right material for its acoustic ceilings and architectural metalwork. To meet net zero carbon goals and reduce impact on the environment, SAS International is launching SAS Horizon. A product programme offering customers a fast-growing, low embodied carbon range of interior products with over 90% recycled content.?
Bauder is on the journey to revolutionise their PIR insulation and has introduced a new insulation to their product range, utilising the biomass balance approach. BauderECO FF is a biomass-balanced polyisocyanurate insulation material manufactured from 80% biomass-based raw materials. ??The biomass balance approach is a chain of custody model used to track the total amount of renewable plant-based raw material content through a manufacturing process/supply chain while ensuring an appropriate allocation of this content to the finished product.
Graphenstone is an innovative paint range established in 2013 and now operating in 30 countries worldwide with prestigious clients, such as Facebook, Google, Grosvenor and Zara.?Utilising ancient natural minerals, like lime, chalk, clay, and silicate, Graphenstone offers a sustainable alternative to environmentally harmful synthetic coatings.?Graphensteon natural mineral-based paints offer a much cleaner profile and their VOC content is minimal. To enhance the performance of their paints, Graphenstone incorporates graphene, a powerful material derived from pure inert carbon.The result is a range of eco-friendly, sustainable paints that prioritise strength, durability, and the well-being of occupants.
As always, Futurebuild was an opportunity to come together with like-minded industry colleagues who share our sustainability values and ambitions for a decarbonised built environment.?
Transparency
Highlights for me included the programme of talks and seeing first-hand the innovations in materials and products that are driving sustainable construction, notably those highlighted by the ASPB. It was also great to see talks on the materials stage flagging issues in the sector regarding transparency in supply chains, in particular, increasing traceability and transparency in mass timber supply chains. It’s inevitable CLT and LVL systems will become used more widely, so ensuring we actually procure sustainable materials in a sustainable way is incredibly important.
Specification and the circular economy
Speaking of procurement and specification (we have our own dedicated e-learning platform – School of Specification – for just that, by the way), it was great to see the Paper Garden by Jan Kattein Architects with Global Generation presented at ACAN! stand. Part of the Canada Water redevelopment by British Land, the project made innovative use of building products and systems ‘as found’ and integrated these free, spare components into the building – which framed a discussion on circular economy principles and challenges within the planning system with regards to procurement.
Biodiversity
There were a range of talks, too, raising awareness on the importance of biodiversity net gain: understanding the economics of biodiversity and unpicking how to make it work for urban and suburban populations varying in size – all very necessary as we try to adopt to such change across the country.
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