Simply Renewable Construction blog

Oct. 15, 2007 - PRLog -- In December 2004, HRI-architects, in association with Hurd Rolland Partnership, were appointed to design the new Inverness Forest District offices for the Forestry Commission on their site at Tower Road, Inverness.

Mark Williams of HRI-architects said: “The design brief was developed to ‘provide new office accommodation that fulfilled the ideals of providing a sustainable and exemplar building that has an emphasis on local timber use’. This brief was interrogated to see how sustainability could be applied in this situation taking into account site parameters, the nature of the clients business, and the ideals of reducing energy consumption both as a finished operating building but also as a method of procurement.

The brief also called for an exemplar approach to the use of timber. This needed to be contextualised to identify ways in which timber might be used, expanding tried and tested methods of construction in perhaps new and innovative ways or as a test bed for new approaches and materials.

A wide variety of sustainable options were considered and from this palate the following were developed in the context of ‘pragmatic sustainability’.

Use of home-grown timber from well managed forests.  Restricting the ‘road miles’ of materials and people where possible to reduce energy consumption.  Re-cycling of rainwater for toilet flushing.  Bio-mass heating.  Maximise the solar heat gain.

In essence, it remains the aim of the client, Forestry Commission, and the designers to develop ways in which sustainability can be promoted using a ‘pragmatic’ approach without compromising good aesthetic design and the desire to create a very pleasant working environment. By this we mean that cognisance of the site, geographic location and costs are balanced against the principles of sustainability avoiding the obvious pitfalls of over specifying materials and technology that is simply not necessary. Research into materials and their careful use to minimise maintenance; making the building air tight and thermally efficient; ensuring good use of natural light and minimising energy consumption are easily achievable without the use of expensive and often gimmicky equipment and will do more to promote the ideal than the pursuit of an overly ambitious techno-solution”.

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