PROJECT REPORT: EDUCATION & RESEARCH FACILITIES 39


for all of their new buildings. “Everything was really pointing at it not being feasible, because of the lack of solar gain and site constraints, but we were all keen to try and do it,” Garriga says.


It was to be the first Passivhaus building delivered by not only the council, but also Holmes Miller, and later the contractor, Maxi. “Everybody was really keen to learn and do the right thing,” she says, saying that Maxi were “outstanding,” such as recording every single penetration through the external walls and photographing it. During the design stage, the council employed their own M&E team to develop the Stage 4 information, offering informed insights into predicted usage and recommending preferred systems. Throughout the construction phase, the council’s team continued their involvement, serving as consultants to assess and validate the work carried out by the delivery M&E consultant and onsite subcontractors. Structural engineers were also heavily involved from early on, offering solutions which responded to this target. Environmental consultant Sussed


ADF JANUARY 2024


Sustainability was brought in during this phase to support the Passivhaus design and certification process. They played a crucial role aiding the design team in making informed decisions, gathering information, and subsequently offering valuable advice to the site team during construction. The architects set a target for airtightness


of 0.3, outperforming the standard Passivhaus level of 0.6. Ideally, Garriga explains, the designers would have altered the orientation of the building but this wasn’t possible due to the constrained site. In order to make up for this, U-values and airtightness were under more pressure. In the end, they achieved a final score in the airtightness test of 0.28, which as Garriga says is testament to the work done. There are “virtually no thermal bridges,” she says, with every wall tie, cable penetration and soil vent pipe calculated and thermally broken.


Access is via a single door on the ground floor leading to the shared space between the two ground floor classrooms; it has automatic closers, meaning the impact on airtightness is minimal. “In a nursery it


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CLT BENEFITS ON SHOW


As well as contributing to the building’s 0.28 air- tightness performance and enhancing interiors, each m3 of CLT used captures one tonne of carbon dioxide


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