REUSE & RETROFIT 105
There’s a company called Madaster, creating a software platform for recycling. Tere are now pan-European circular economy initiatives. And we are moving forward with materials passports.’ Fletcher Priest – whose Warwick Court retrofit project, featured in a previous edition of FX, opted for 90% retention and reuse of materials either from the site or nearby – has been pushing the practice of passporting materials, so that in future refits or reconstructions it’s possible to identify how to reuse each component properly. Te prototype for this technology is 100 Fetter
Lane, a 94,000ft2 newbuild conceived in the
midst of the pandemic as a benchmark for sustainability and well-being. Working closely with sustainability consultants Watermans, a framework was developed to label all of the components clearly for future users. Although concrete and steel are the main construction materials, through modular and precast construction the frame and façade elements are designed to be easily dismantled and reused. Says Mark Sutton, senior associate at Fletcher Priest: ‘We’re adopting this now in the majority of our projects.’ And demand from both clients and tenants of these new
future-facing office buildings is driving momentum, he adds.
To what extent is the construction
industry evolving its thinking and practices to support this shift? FCB’s Williams says: ‘Tere are a couple of key stakeholders that need convincing: the main contractors and quantity surveyors. Tey are the gatekeepers for this. It’s not that they are not engaged, they just don’t have the tools – the ISO standards etc. Tey fall back on the bureaucratic, “low-risk” approach even though those practices are high risk for the environment. But they are getting there.’
CASE STUDY FALLEN AND FELLED
Set up in 2018 by tree-lover and cabinetmaker Bruce Saunders, Fallen & Felled takes sustainably sourced timber – supplied through a growing network of tree surgeons and local council parks management – and turns it into furniture and fittings thanks to a growing audience of architects and makers. Run out of Walthamstow’s pioneering Blackhorse Studios (shared machinery and
workshops combined with low-cost studio space), the company is raising awareness and opportunities to deploy the rich assortment of native tree species that are felled or lost locally due to forest management or storms, now with their own timber yard for storing and drying wood, in Bulphan, Essex.
Patrick Welsh, marketing and finance director, says: ‘About 90% of hardwood used in the UK is imported. Which is OK if it’s just come from Holland, but if it’s coming from
America or rainforests that’s not a good story. You’ve got a lot of transport miles there.’
The UK has plenty of hardwood species, including oak, elm, hornbeam, sycamore and maple. And it was these species that the company sourced for its biggest recent commission from architects Butler Wiltshire, which wanted to bring a softer, more organic aesthetic to outdoor tables and seating within a high-rise development in London. Says Patrick: ‘We made about 11 different clusters of them. This was a big project for us. We had to create 52 worktops, all individually bespoke and crafted. It was a co-commission with the BID, and also the City of London. One of the issues with English hardwood is it’s not quite as weatherproof for outdoor use, so we properly varnished them up. We go back every six months and tend to them, so that they keep the warm wood colour, otherwise timber tends to grey.’
Social enterprise and furniture maker Goldfinger is one of its biggest customers for materials, and Fallen & Felled supplied the
wood for a new range of benches and stools the company has designed for Tate Galleries, not only for its café areas but also sold through its online portal.
‘It’s not a low-cost alternative,’ says Welsh. ‘But our customers include architects, designers, a lot of artisan furniture makers who value character pieces, and also residential consumers, who we will make things for. We will increasingly make our own furniture, from a simple range we’re developing now.’ With local authorities also addressing their sustainability credentials, Welsh says more and more of the timber that’s felled due to parks management is being put back into circulation, to boost the authority’s social value credentials. Says Welsh: ‘They are now expected to do better things with the trees. And that plays into our mission. Their tree surgeons will want to work with us, or other sourcing companies, to manage the supply chain better. Otherwise there will always be an inclination to get rid of the timber as easily as possible, which means burning it.’
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