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PROJECT REPORT: HERITAGE & HISTORIC
COOL KILN
The pyramid-roofed former malt kiln was perfectly placed to provide a striking unheated circulation and entrance space © Daniel Hopkinson
architectural vision for combining food and beverage, education and workplace elements. “We were able to bring in various people from our various sectors,” says Greensmith. He says the practice badges projects of this type as “creative reuse,” as “we love their history, but we are so focused on what they are going to be,” designing with an emphasis on future adaptability as well as sustainability.
Restoration approach
This painstaking and comprehensive £28m (fixed budget) restoration was driven by a ‘light touch’ approach to repair the fabric, doing what was required to retain and safeguard the structure and avoiding overengineering, with lean design and sustainability as the overall drivers. The practical goal was twofold; to repair metal elements of the structure which were in a sorry state after years of corrosion, and secondly, to bring the building up to modern thermal performance standards as a high-quality 20th century workplace, enhancing and harnessing its original features to that end.
FCBStudios has its own carbon calculation tool, which they used to demonstrate how a ‘light touch’ refurb would be the sustainable answer to the challenge. They used this to compare the
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embodied energy of the 600 tonnes of steel needed for a full facade retention scheme with the lighter ‘safety net’ approach, which would require 60 tonnes. They were also able to offset this with the improvements to the fabric, in the form of new high- performance metal windows, sheep wool insulation in the roofs, and wood fibre insulation for all compartmentalised spaces, allied to the major sustainability plus of a ground source heat pump installation. The key structural drivers for the design of the refurbishment were to keep the ground floor open and free of columns where possible. This meant making most structural interventions on the first floor – which was the first of four levels devoted to tenanted workplace. There were fewer issues in terms of structural loadings on the upper workplace levels, thanks to the relatively lightweight planned office uses.
Designing a new future Tim Greensmith says Historic England’s approach to such projects is holistic, looking at the whole building “and every possible aspect of energy conservation before jumping to renewables or triple glazing.” He explains that the architects applied Historic England’s national guidance here at Shrewsbury Flaxmill Maltings, and in turn FCBStudios
ADF FEBRUARY 2024
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