ONE BRIGHTON

Working in parallel with the Brighton Council, in 2001 URBED prepared a masterplan of the Brighton New England Quarter  - the 8.75 hectare (21.6 acre) eastern boundary site of the Brighton rail station.

The terraced site was divided east-west by an abandon rail line. The upper west terrace provided parking and open storage for the train station. The lower east portion was open storage, car dealerships and mostly vacant low-rise buildings.

Following the success of the BedZED development in Surrey, BioRegional properties sought to develop a larger, more cost effective mixe-use project. They formed a permanent joint venture with Quintain Estates and Development PLC and a project specific joint venture with commercial housing developer Crest Nicholson. Between 1999 and 2009, this partnership, Crest Nicholson BioRegional Quintain LLP with Fielden Clegg Bradley Studios as the architects developed a 3,900 sq m (.96 acre) portion of the New England Quarter site. 

1. Previous Site Plan  

The One Brighton site is identified as blocks E and F in the master plan drawing below. Plans for the green way are identified in this 2001 diagram. Brighton Council granted outline planning permission for this plan in 2002. The plan provided for 84 flats in two buildings between three and six stories tall. 

2. New England Quarter master plan

BioRegional successfully negotiated increased site density in exchange for enhanced sustainable features on the site. In 2007 Brighton Council approved the plan to construct 172 flats in 14,600 sq m. 

The development utilizes a wood chip bio-mass boiler to deliver hot water and district heating to residents. A photo-voltaic array provides 5% of the site's energy demands. The remaining power demands are met by a green energy agreement with a local utility. The development targeted a zero carbon strategy. At the time, local codes were mandating 40% better than standard energy efficiency and were not regulating carbon emissions. The development will meet BREEAM ‘excellent’ as well as BioRegional’s own ‘One Planet Living’ status.

3. Site plan and section diagram

Residents on the site don't own a car, or if they do, they park it off site. The only parking is for disabled and car share programs. There are indoor secure bike storage rooms in each building and covered outdoor bike storage. Proximity to the train station and numerous bus stops make this arrangement completely feasible.

The two most successful aspects of the design of the development are the garden allotments on the roof of Pullman and the community spaces throughout. The allotments are sought after and the waiting list proves it. They are well tended and use stored rainwater for irrigation. The lush green of the allotments lie in contrast to the brown roof atop Brighton Belle, but this is by design. The un-planted media will, over time, seed itself with native plant species. 

The community spaces are both indoor and outdoor spaces interspersed within and around the two buildings and a 1,000 sq m community center on the ground floor of Brighton Belle. The long double loaded hallways are punctuated by communal spaces at multiple locations per floor in each building, but they have yet to see much use. In my conversation with Peter the Green Caretaker, I related the community spaces to the brown roof. The right elements and conditions are there to promote growth, its just going to take a little time.

4.My sketch of Brighton Belle from green way

Sources:

Figure 1: BRIGHTON New England Quarter Design Statement, July 2001 by URBED with Chetwood Associates, and David Huskisson Associates (http://www.urbed.coop/journal_docs/Pages%20from%20Brighton%20Design%20Statement%20Sec%201-2.pdf)

Figure 2: same as figure 1.

Figure 3: Fielden Clegg Bradley Studios

Figure 4: Dan Seng ink and watercolor sketch.  

Related Links:

http://www.onebrighton.co.uk/index.aspx

http://www.fcbstudios.com/projects.asp?s=7&ss=4&proj=1211

http://www.breeam.org/

EcoHomes - http://www.breeam.org/page.jsp?id=21

WINDSOR CASTLE

The Keep on the Motte

The Upper Ward Gateway

St. George's Chapel

Windsor is a 20 minute train ride from the London Paddington national rail station. The State Apartments have the finest collection or paintings, tapestries, armor and weapons of any museum I've ever visited. The Castle has been the royal retreat for 900 years and remains the summer home of the Queen. It was originally constructed by William the Conqueror in the 11th century as one of several castles fortifying London, 20 miles separating each of them. Of them, only Windsor and the Tower of London remain (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Windsor_Castle). Standing on the north terrace with views to the horizon in every direction, its location clearly has some strategic advantages.

BedZED

BedZED is the Beddington Zero Energy Development was initiated by Bill Dunster Architects (now The ZED Factory). Dunster designed the development, ARUP provided systems engineering and Bioregional sustainability consulting. The 100 home development was designed and built with funds from the Peabody Trust, one of the oldest and biggest housing associations in London.

It lies a short train ride from London and a 5 minute walk from the Hackbridge station. Bioregional conducts tours every Tuesday and Wednesday for a small fee. Bioregional staff led two groups of 15 on a 2-hr long tour of the development closing with a short Q+A period with an architect from ZED Factory.

Bioregional’s promotional literature and website (http://www.bioregional.com/what-we-do/our-work/bedzed/ ) boast an 81% reduction in energy use for heating, a 60% reduction in water use per person and nearly 50% of the building materials sourced from within 50 km of the site.

The solid walls are insulated with 30 cm of insulation. Windows are south facing and triple glazed. Photo-voltaics produce approximately 20% of the developments electrical demand. Each unit is equipped with water, hot water and power meters in the kitchen installed at eye level inside a kitchen cabinet behind a viewing window so residents can monitor their own usage. 

Impressive as they are, these features don’t have the emblematic recognizability of the wind cowls. These multi-colored roof-mounted venting features track the wind providing intake and exhaust air.

One of the core ideas behind Bioregional’s One Planet principles is monitoring performance and sharing the results. The information is published on their web site and is refreshingly transparent. Since the doors opened in 2002 the designers have learned some valuable lessons and have modified the original system designs.

A living machine originally provided the on-site water treatment. The design proved effective, but rigorous local monitoring requirements eventually made the system untenable from a cost perspective. The system was later upgraded to UK’s first membrane bio-reactor. The rain water and black water is captured, treated and stored for toilet flushing and landscape irrigation.

The co-generation plant was originally designed to run on wood pellets and produce syn-gas to operate a small electric generator and the gas-fired boilers for district heating. Citing technical problems and planning constraints, they shut down the bio-mass plant and generator in 2005 and switched to municipal gas to run the boilers.

Nearly ten years after its opening, with integrated water management, energy efficiency and vehicle use reduction strategies, BedZED remains a development ahead of its time.

T-MINUS 4 DAYS

Bounding over a continent and skipping across an ocean to study architecture for four months is one of those fantasies that, if asked, I would surely have ranked high on my list of things to do before I die. It’s only now that my departure is less than one week away, that I can grasp that this fantasy is about to become a reality.

Francis J. Plym studied architecture at the University of Illinois. He founded the Kawneer company in 1906 with a patented design that used copper, in lieu of wood or steel, to frame a window. The result was a frame that didn't decay or rust, so looked and performed both better and longer. This idea changed an industry and transformed the appearance of Main Street across the continent. Kawneer earned a reputation as a reliable curtain wall manufacturer and remains a household name within the industry. His family established this unique traveling fellowship so that graduates of the Illinois School of Architecture could independently explore architecture in Europe.

In four months and in 30 cities, I will be studying the history, trends and solutions to issues of urban density, carbon emissions and energy consumption. This site will record my photos, sketches and random thoughts found in and around these cities. When I return, I hope to translate and improve the ideas found there to solve similar problems here in the United States and elsewhere.

In just 4 days, I depart for London. Wasting no time, I tour the BedZed development at 2 PM on Wednesday.