MULTI OCCUPANCY BUILDINGS PROJECT REPORT
column-free design with substantial 145 mm walls instead. Vyas explains: “After some serious interrogation of the figures from the structural engineers, we produced a design where all of the partitions within apartments are structural – that creates an incredibly rigid building.” He adds:” “Having so many intermediate levels of support also means all of your slabs can be a lot thinner than on a conventional multi-storey building.” As a result the only columns are a handful on the ground floor, and slabs are only 175 mm, meaning a reduced use of concrete overall. Walls between apartments include two layers of plasterboard plus Rockwool insulation, the result being, says Vyas, much better acoustics than social housing and student accommodation projects he has visited, where “you can hear people two apartments down.”
From the first floor up, there are contin-
uous ‘solar’ balustrades with PV panels angled at 38 degrees to optimise their exposure to sun year-round. This will present a somewhat unusual facade of skirt-like ribs of sloping PV balustrades with generous punched windows between, but which will not affect residents and, says Vyas, presented no issue for the planning department. In addition, the PVs will all be maintained externally, and that very few panels will need to be replaced over the tower’s lifetime, according to the architect. The building steps back slightly above floor 13 with penthouses clad using quadru- ple-glazed curtain walling glazing panels. Storeys below will all have triple-glazed windows, assisting in the building’s overall U- value of 0.1 W/m2
K achieved through a
significant volume of Rockwool insulation. While the building will be designed to be highly air-tight, the windows will be top- hung and openable. This means the building’s high level of thermal performance can’t quite reach the heights of Passivhaus. However it’s expected that residents will see a reduction in heating costs of 70-80 per cent. Vyas explains the reasoning: “People do like control – if it’s a hot day, they may want some air. People still have to be comfortable in their home and some like fresh air and some don’t – it’s not up to me or the devel- oper to take that away from anyone.” Construction will be scheduled in a highly efficient way – all concrete will be formed at the same time, including upstands and parti- tions – once the third storey is underway the first fix will be able to commence on the two levels below. This means “very concise sequencing as building progresses,” says Vyas,
ADF FEBRUARY 2017
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adding “you don’t have to wait for the whole building to be cast in order to put glazing panels in; it dramatically reduces construc- tion time.”
He says that the design team “sees all of our subcontractors as partners – an integral part of the team. They can use our offices in Rickmansmorth whenever they want to.” He adds that the developer’s strong CSR policy is shared with subcontractors to get them to buy into the values, such as on recycling of materials.
Atrium & interiors
A central atrium containing an arboretum will enable access to apartments via glass lifts. The atrium’s key design intent is “an attempt to provide quality of air within the space,” says Vyas. The design team is currently working out whether it can be topped with an ETFE roof, but he says this is a favoured option “because it has better sustainability credentials than glass and is maintenance-free.”
The ground floor is where the main ameni- ties for residents are located, from the internal arboretum to the cafe and bar area, water features, club lounge and cinema room as well as external patio space. In addi- tion, on the first floor will be a 2,120 ft2 gymnasium, and a communal roof garden will also provide an outdoor residents decked ‘library’ area and an ‘observatory.’ With the aspiration being to attract high- end customers as well as those seeking affordable options, interiors will be high spec with wood-floored hallways and open-plan living areas featuring ceramic tiled floors and walls. Living spaces (floor to ceiling 2.7 metres, and in penthouses 3.1 metres) open on to private balconies through full height patio doors and windows.
FACING PAGE
Angled balustrades are covered with PV panels ABOVE
A bedroom in one of the Beacon’s penthouses FACTFILE
•EPC A rated •World’s highest density solar farm (0.8 MW < 0.5 acres)
•Solar PV panels embedded into balustrades at each floor level
•Triple-glazing to all apartments, quadruple-glazing to upper level apartments
•Ground source heat pumps and air source heat pumps extract heat from basement and atrium respectively to heat hot water
•100 per cent rainwater harvesting (collected at roof and balcony levels) for toilet flushing and irrigation of planters on all external balconies and internal arboretum
• MVHR – (mechanical ventilation heat recovery) system – including comfort cooling
•Thermal emissivity < 0.2 W/M2
•UK’s tallest residential indoor arboretum
•UK’s largest underground automated robotic car park – 319 car park spaces
K
•Electric car and electric bike hire scheme
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