To minimise carbon emissions, developers behind two huge greenhouses in East Anglia are using heat from nearby wastewater treatment plants to provide perfect growing conditions. Phil Lattimore reports on the innovative engineering behind the facilities
Category: Case Studies
Tap Inns and touchdowns: Inside Tottenham Hotspur’s new stadium
The razzamatazz of the American NFL visited north London last month, when Oakland Raiders beat the Chicago Bears 24-21 in a thriller at Tottenham Hotspur’s new stadium. Andy Pearson looks at the remarkable engineering behind the 3,000-tonne retractable grass pitch that enables the stadium to be used for a multitude of events
Case study: One Angel Square, Northampton
Robust modelling and an intelligent redesign enabled BDP to retain natural ventilation in Northamptonshire County Council’s new offices. Andy Pearson finds out how collaborative value engineering resulted in a CIBSE Building Performance Award
Case study: Cambridge Central Mosque
Cambridge’s elegant new mosque has comfort and sustainability at its heart thanks to the involvement of the environmental engineer at the project’s inception. Andy Pearson looks at how Skelly & Couch’s creative design worked with the grand scale of the prayer hall to provide natural ventilation and daylighting for more than 1,000 worshippers
Force of nature – naturally ventilating Amsterdam’s Breeze Hotel
The 11-storey Breeze Hotel in Amsterdam has a unique natural ventilation system that uses solar chimneys and water droplets sprayed into a shaft to move air around the building. Andy Pearson speaks to the academic behind the concept, Dr Ben Bronsema, and looks at how his ‘earth, wind and fire’ theory became reality
Case study: Lark Rise, the UK’s first Passivhaus Plus
A Passivhaus Plus home in the Chiltern Hills establishes the ‘building as a power station’ concept and shows the viability of an electrical grid powered by renewable energy. Andy Pearson reports
Silent treatment: acoustic design in an open plan school
The design brief for Trumpington Community College was for open teaching spaces overlooking a large, airy atrium. The challenge for Max Fordham’s acoustic engineers was ensuring teachers were not disturbed by noise from neighbouring spaces. Andy Pearson reports
Measuring beyond energy in a school POE
Evidence gathered from a school campus in London shows the lessons that can be learned from a holistic approach to building design and operation, which improves energy performance while ensuring indoor environment quality. By lead author Nishesh Jain, Dr Esfand Burman and Dr Craig Robertson
Mirvac’s gold standard – Building Performance Champion 2019
Mirvac’s 37-storey building towered over its rivals to win CIBSE’s coveted Building Performance Champion Award. Andy Pearson examines the holistic approach to design to deliver both occupant comfort and energy outcomes
Engineering façades at Zaha Hadid’s Morpheus hotel
The design of the jaw-dropping Morpheus Hotel in Macau has a 40-storey, free-form exoskeleton that would not have been possible without the skill of the façade engineers. Andy Pearson talks to BuroHappold Engineering about the 30 façade systems needed to realise the striking design