Sustainability Report

Sustainability information provided by Owen Jowett, Associate at Maccreanor Lavington.

Embodied carbon strategies

• The client’s ambition to limit embodied carbon included reviews at each stage of the project, guiding material selection throughout. A lifecycle assessment identified construction elements with the greatest embodied carbon and design development focused on reducing material use. This included reductions in slab thicknesses and stability walls, the elimination of transfer structures, and the use of GGBS as a cement replacement in the concrete frame.
• Embodied carbon modelling informed specification decisions from the outset. The project achieves an average Whole Life Carbon figure of 799 kgCO2e/m², in line with RIBA 2025 targets.

Operational emissions strategies

• As the end-user client, Peabody sought to limit overheating and avoid mechanical cooling, together with its associated energy use. The design was assessed using the TM59 methodology (a CIBSE dynamic thermal modelling framework for evaluating overheating risk in homes), although the project predates the introduction of Approved Document O (the Building Regulations framework in England for addressing overheating risk in new homes).
• More than 500 resident-operated, electrically powered window shutters are integrated into the facade to control solar gain and internal temperatures. They reduce reliance on air conditioning by enabling residents to regulate solar gain during peak periods.
• The design team, including ARUP Facades, undertook an overheating study to establish window size parameters that optimise solar gain and daylight. These refinements were incorporated into the facade design, varying window sizes within the tripartite composition across the height of the buildings.

Service and maintenance emissions strategies 

• The avoidance of mechanical cooling was intended to limit associated maintenance and servicing requirements over time. By relying on passive solar control and natural ventilation rather than active cooling systems, the design reduces long-term servicing demands.
• The material palette — comprising brickwork, precast sills, copings, and string courses — was selected to provide a durable, low-maintenance exterior.
• A Healthy Materials checklist informed specification decisions. For internal finishes, this led to minimising VOCs, formaldehyde, and epoxy to improve the internal environment.

Fire safety

Fire safety was a key specification consideration, particularly in relation to the shutters and other facade components. Maintaining compliance within an evolving regulatory environment required detailed test data during specification. The design team worked with Schueco and shutter manufacturer Warema to develop a fixing detail that positions the shutters outside the thermal line, avoiding phenolic insulation and using a product intended for externally rendered walls. The solution is compliant with updates to Approved Document B (the Building Regulations requirement in England governing fire safety in buildings), which were ongoing during the design process.