28 THE FUTURE OF TALL BUILDINGS
accountability for construction and occupation.’ Then came ‘making sure the Competent Persons scheme isn’t going to be used to allow upgrades to bypass planning (49% of respondents.) Lastly, ensuring the Golden Thread would be present to “preserve design throughout procurement, or formally review it” was seen as a priority by 46% of respondents. And when it came to architects’ roles, 38% thought that establishing their ability to take up the new Principal Designer role to sign off safety was crucial for future projects.
Conclusion
“According to the Council For Tall Buildings and Urban Habitat, 49% of tall buildings globally in 2020 were mixed use. Is mixed use going to become the dominant ‘use class’ for tall buildings?”
and one commenter said that in urban clusters they may not be viable because of overshadowing from adjacent buildings, and maintenance and lifetime performance issues.
Closed cavity facades are a recent innovation being seen on tall buildings which greatly enhances the insulation potential of double-skin facades. The approach sees dehumidified air supplied to an internal cavity between glazed units, at the same time avoiding condensation. Many of our survey respondents fully agreed that these systems were a realistic sustainability investment for ‘mainstream construction’ in the UK, but offered caveats such as that it needs ‘a bit of design input from the whole team’ to achieve. One commenter said such facades would be ‘likely to dramatically increase overall cost,’ and another expressed worries on ‘quality control during construction.’
Wellness & Biodiversity The issues around achieving high performance, efficiency and maximum daylight combined with good environmental quality in terms of air quality and other wellness factors have long been a difficult balance to strike for architects of tall buildings. However the problems of mitigating noise problems simply resulting from the vast structures themselves, which partly result from systems used to improve the environment
such as air conditioning, can be even trickier to fix. However, while our survey respondents reported a good number of issues causing noise challenges for designs to mitigate using acoustic solutions, out in front was sound coming from occupants themselves (31% said it was a significant challenge).
Urban clusters
Should tall buildings remain the default option for ‘high-value’ urban clusters, despite the range of the challenges they face and present, or should a more medium and low-rise be explored? Our survey respondents were split on the issue – 51% said yes, tall buildings should be used, and 49% said no.
Comments made by respondents included, on the ‘pro tall buildings as the default option’ side: ‘density has value,’ and ‘I’d rather build up than out.’ Views in the opposing camp included ‘people don’t want to live in tall buildings.’
The Grenfell legacy
Our survey asked respondents what they believed the ‘highest priority aspects of the post-Grenfell safety regime’ were. All of the proposed priority factors received solid support, but most respondents picked ‘fundamental changes to clarify the Building Regulations’ as their highest priority to address (67%).
The other key priorities were ‘direct
Our survey of architects and professionals, many of whom are involved in the design of tall buildings, showed that the building typology is likely to remain a major part of future construction, however there will be changes to the look, performance and content of such schemes. Tall buildings are likely to be predominantly mixed use in future, for aesthetic as well as business reasons. In the post-pandemic world, offering users a range of amenities, as well as the ability to actually live without an expensive and energy-hungry commute, is likely to be key to bringing them back to cities. Supertall buildings will continue to be prevalent as the ultimate tall buildings ‘statement,’ however China will not be putting up any more 500 metre-plus behemoths, and many of our survey respondents regarded structures in the 250- 500 metres range as inappropriate, given our global energy-reduction priorities. UK architects have a notable presence in the upper echelons of the tallest buildings. With a huge number of tall buildings planned for London alone, if realised this represents a major revenue stream for the industry.
There is no sign of tall buildings falling out of favour among developers. However, the pandemic has shifted the place of urban centres in the value equation, so project speculators must make an ever stronger case for their development. There’s mounting scepticism about the viability of tall buildings in the light of the need to drastically cut carbon. Genuinely sustainable approaches may be needed to mitigate these concerns, to ensure such structures have a fully accepted place in our future urban planning.
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