Two of our projects are shortlisted for the Passivhaus Trust Awards!
3 June 2021
Agar Grove Estate and Cranmer Road are both shortlisted in the Large Projects category for the UK Passivhaus Awards.
It's rewarding to have been involved with two of the three shortlisted projects for this coveted award. With Passivhaus being a world-leading energy and comfort standard with a uniquely hands-on process of delivery, it is in many ways a formalisation of Max Fordham's approach to building design that has been applied over more than 50 years. Passivhaus is a key component for net zero carbon buildings, as it has been shown to deliver buildings with low energy use in practice, and a small performance gap between design and reality. It works best with strong buy-in from the client, the whole design team, and the contractor.
Cranmer Road Student Accommodation is an ultra-low energy, all electric, Passivhaus development for King's College Cambridge. Fifty-nine graduate student bedrooms are provided across two new accommodation buildings each of differing modern character, both designed to sit comfortably alongside the neighbouring arts and crafts villas. With its low embodied carbon structure and low operational carbon emissions, the Cranmer Road Student Accommodation is an exemplar student housing project that showcases many of the approaches to sustainable and low energy design that are essential for current and future projects aspiring to achieve net zero carbon.
Working alongside Allies and Morrison Architects, we provided MEP, Passivhaus, and Acoustic services for this project. As Passivhaus consultants we have supported the design team and contractor from early stage design through delivery on site.
This included:
- Helping evaluate the benefits and implications of Passivhaus, so the client could decide whether to adopt the standard.
- Supporting the design team to develop a low-energy, buildable design, including facilitating workshops, carrying out modelling using the Passivhaus Planning Package (PHPP), and thermal bridging calculations.
- Working with the contractor through the site phase to help them realise the design, and inform specialist subcontractor design development.
- Liaising with the Passivhaus certifier throughout the project.
The buildings' achieved airtightness results three to four times better than the Passsivhaus limit, more than 50 times better than building regulations allow. Measured peak heating demand has been 8 W/m², lower than the Passivhaus target of 10 W/m².
All finalists will present their projects to a virtual audience at the online UK Passivhaus Awards Ceremony on 30th June, when the winners will be announced.