Group 30

The built environment is largely responsible for the climate emergency we now face. Using sustainable methods of construction is an innovative way to ease this. First developed in the 70s, cross laminated timber (CLT) has now become a new favourite for many architects. These multi-layered panels are produced in factories and then transferred and assembled on site, speeding up construction time while reducing waste. Other benefits include reusing the materials after a building’s life cycle and reducing the use of carbon intensive materials such as concrete.

Other than CLT, building materials can be made of recycled waste and borrowed materials to promote circular economy. Instead of demolishing an outmoded building, construction methods using steel or wooden framework can be easily dismantled and exchanged like a kit of parts to achieve net zero waste. Retrofitting is another sustainable strategy to minimise demolition and reduce potential landfills, while modernising an old building system to up to date building standards.

Dalton Works

Construction using CLT is gaining more and more popularity with examples such as Dalton Works to pave the way for more sustainable alternatives to building. CLT has numerous benefits not only due to its lifecycle, but also through the reduction of carbon intensive materials, speeding up and reducing noise pollution of the construction process.

• The circularity of CLT’s life cycle means that timber buildings can be built with reuse and recycling in mind. The manufacturing processes use all parts of the log, producing no waste and little pollution. Moreover, timber buildings store carbon in their structure.

• Concrete cannot be avoided when it comes to foundations. However, timber structures are significantly lighter, therefore require a smaller volume of concrete only used in groundworks like Dalston Works, allowing it to weigh 5 times less than a concrete building of its size.

• With prefabricated elements, most of the building can be directly assembled on site, reducing waste and time necessary for the construction process. Dalston works only took 18 months to complete!

• While the exposed timber can improve mental health conditions, the exterior can easily be clad in any material, offering a lot of flexibility in terms of design.

The People’s Pavilion

in Eindhoven, the Netherlands was designed by Bureau SLA and Overtreders W. as a temporary gathering place for visitors to enjoy music and theatre. Aiming to promote circular economy, no building materials were lost in construction. The building itself was made of recycled and borrowed materials only. The colourful shingles cladding the façade were made from recycled plastic waste gathered by Eindhoven residents, which were returned when the pavilion was dismantled. The wooden framework, concrete and glass roof for example were borrowed and were given back to the suppliers and producers. To achieve zero waste, the wooden framework employed a technique that uses tie-down straps, tension belts and cable ties that could be reused, instead of screws, glue, drills and saws. From building to being torn down, the pavilion created almost no ecological footprint in construction which can lead to a more sustainable future by eliminating waste.

Yorkton Workshops

In the case of Yorkton Workshops, the building was reused due to the regulations on the site changing. While the building was in a dire condition, the new requirements for a new build would have a smaller floor area and smaller ceiling height. The original buildings used were a series of stables turned into a workshop and a factory unit, these were connected with a concrete bridge in the new adaptation of the building, allowing for a future proof layout. Environmentally, the construction reused most of the structural elements while updating the thermal envelope to today’s insulation standards. The need for HAVC systems is mitigated by using the original thermal mass of the building and other environmental design features. While this isn’t as efficient as a new build, the embodied carbon that is reduced through reuse offsets this. Yorkton Workshops was not as limited by finance, costing £1.25 million to construct, the building demonstrates a precedent for adapting existing building by creating a beautifully characterful and relatively thermally efficient workshop.