sustainable assessment guide

Ebbsfleet Development Corporation

Early in 2024, Ebbsfleet Development Corporation awarded Gbolade Design Studio the commission to review sustainability assessment approaches to support the design and delivery of a range of Net Zero developments within the 10,000 home Ebbsfleet Garden City development area and to identify a preferred approach.

The overarching aims of the project were to:

• Provide greater detail on how EDC will assess local plan sustainability policies consistently and accurately for planning applications in Ebbsfleet

• Develop a system to enable more consistent comparison and benchmarking of sustainable performance of planning applications, and ensure adequate recognition for where applicants are investing in performance over and above the minimum regulations

• Demonstrate the alignment / contribution of planning applications towards delivering the ambitions of the Ebbsfleet Sustainability Framework(2021)

• Provide guidance to facilitate discussion and improve sustainable performance in pre-application meetings.

• Develop guidance to support EDC towards its 2035 Net Zero ambitions.

The document is intended to be used by applicants, Ebbsfleet Development Corporation’s planning team and the Ebbsfleet Design Forum to frame discussions around sustainability from the outset of a project. 

The document provides two key tools for applicants; 

• Assessment tables provide a framework for defining and reporting on sustainable performance targets within a planning application. They have been developed to interpret local planning policy into clear performance levels that are consistent with national industry best practice, and to ensure delivery of quantifiable ambitions set out in Ebbsfleet’s Sustainable Framework. 

• Simple and clear design guidance provided for key project types. This guidance is intended to provide a basic framework for demonstrating project sustainability performance within the application documentation. The guidance will also be used during pre-application meetings to ensure key design approaches and technologies have been tested and incorporated where appropriate into projects at the earliest opportunity.
  

The guide aligns local planning policy with EDC’s environmental ambitions and industry-defined best practice to provide a consistent methodology for assessing and reporting across Carbon, Water, Waste & Materials, Green infrastructure, Natural Environment and Health and Wellbeing. Project Typologies covered by the guide include: Residential, Schools & Community Buildings, Commercial Buildings, Public realm + Infrastructure.

The guide was issued out for public consultation on the digital engagment platform Commonplace throughout summer and autumn of 2024, with EDC Committee approval for adoption and implementation recieved in mid-October.

LISTED BUILDINGS RETROFITS

Gbolade Design Studio are working with a consortium of Housing Associations who have won an over £2.6M Social Housing Decarbonisation Fund (SHDF) grant to address the energy efficiency in 25no. Listed properties as part of a wider 280 home retrofit programme in London. The listed properties are across 3-boroughs including Islington Council, Lambeth Council, and Hackney Council. This is a two-year retrofit programme will improve comfort for residents, while reducing energy bills.

 The funding will allow for these homes to be upgraded in alignment with PAS2035 requirements, where the Gbolade Design team have built-up a wealth of experience and expertise.

PAS 2035 is the British standard for retrofitting dwellings; the standard outlines how retrofit projects should be managed and delivered, and its compliance is a requirement of all retrofit programmes deploying government funding.

cam look ii passivhaus, rickmansworth

Cam Look II is a contemporary multi-generational new home set in the suburban valley landscape of Rickmansworth, Hertfordshire. The new two storey, 4500 sq.ft 5-bedroom dwelling replaces an existing bungalow and will be constructed using offsite manufactured, low-carbon, healthy materials and renewable technologies to deliver a truly high-performance, low operational energy home. With a passive house design approach, the home meets RIBA 2030 Climate Challenge standards.

The dwelling is approached from a gentle descent from the main road, with an entrance defined by tall, slender glazing flanked by a large bronze-clad canopy that leads into an incredible double height entrance hallway. This space leads the eye vertically to an impressive stairway to the first floor and circular rooflight that floods the space with natural light.

The main ground floor living, kitchen, swimming pool, gym and sauna facilities to the rear are designed around a courtyard garden space, allowing ample natural light to flood in through sliding and tilt-turn floor to ceiling glazing. A senior-living guest suite and cinema room are located to front of the plan.

To the first floor, the three primary bedrooms face out over green roofs and the dense forest of trees into the depth of the landscaped garden. An additional guest bedroom, laundry and office space complete the first-floor plan.

Sustainability credentials

The home has been designed to be low energy with an airtight fabric comprised of offsite manufactured Cross Laminated and Glulam Timber structure, high performance insulation, sustainability sourced timber cladding. U-Values to the walls and roof achieve 0.10 and 0.11 respectively.

3No Air Source Heat Pumps (ASHP) provide space and hot water heating to the dwelling, with constant fresh air provided by Mechanical Ventilation heat recovery (MVHR) units.

Biodiversity improvements to the landscape are captured with the use of sedum roofs and the design combines indoor-outdoor living, a courtyard surrounded by ASHP powered swimming pool, sauna and gym space and landscaped garden offering opportunities for quiet seclusion.

LLOYD LEON COMMUNITY CENTRE

Redevelopment of The Dominoes Club, Brixton

Feasibility work for the redevelopment of the Lloyd Leon Community Centre (LLCC) is underway. This important community project is home to the award-winning Brixton Immortals Dominoes Club & the hugely impactful Brixton Soup Kitchen in Brixton, Lambeth. The project team were appointed by Lambeth Council following competitive tender.

The redevelopment of the LLCC will see the rich and diverse history of the community centre celebrated and enhanced, while adapting to the future to ensure the long-term economic, social, and environmental sustainability of this tight-knit community. Stakeholder engagement will include building occupiers the Dominoes Club & Brixton Soup Kitchen, Lambeth Council and The Ubele Initiative, and will form the foundation for delivering a successful response. 

Led by Gbolade Design Studio, the strong collaborative team includes: Urban Symbiotics & Green Tea Architects; as well as consultants: Tisserin Engineers, Quaye Services; and guidance from both Elsie Owusu OBE & Bola Abisogun OBE. The winning team were chosen by the LLCC occupiers alongside Lambeth Council.

History: many of the invited 500 Jamaican passengers on board the SS Empire Windrush that arrived at Tilbury Docks, Essex on the 22nd June 1948 had travelled to Britain to help rebuild the economy by increasing workforce shortages caused by World War II, with many settling in Lambeth Council. They brought with them art, writing, dance, music, and dominoes playing that would transform British culture.

The UK actively invited people from Commonwealth nations as large parts of Britain were in desperate need of rebuilding. These newly arrived Britons went on to work in industries such as the National Rail & the NHS. Even though invited, many would be met with intolerance and were denied accommodation and access to public services.

Playing dominoes requires intelligent mind games alongside a passion for the game, leading to what is called ‘the sweet sound of the shuffle’ - which endures in the Brixton Dominoes Club, Lambeth.

The Brixton Soup Kitchen Helping The Homeless | Amazing Humans

Solomon starting feeding the homeless when he was 11years old, and started the Brixton Soup Kitchen in 2013. The impact of the soup kitchen since then has been exponential - recognising that homelessness can be only a few weeks away for many families in London. The Soup Kitchen has become a community hub that provides expertise from counselling to legal advice, IT skills to school packs; breaking the cycles of disadvantage that issues from homelessness can create.

The DIRECTOR'S CUT

We are very excited to have been appointed by these brilliant private clients who are refurbishing their home, set in the beautiful grounds in the countryside. The home was an old vicarage which had been added-to over the years. We looked to rationalise the plan and bring a light-flooded central connection between key spaces internally and an architectural narrative that celebrates the buildings’ character externally.

The design features a glazed ‘slice’ through the central spine of the house - carefully directing plenty of natural light deep into the plan. The layout has been rationalised to facilitate ease of access to all the key parts of the building - while using the central circulation as a place for incidental family meeting and ‘dwelling’, rather than just a place to pass through.

The ambitious clients have sought a sustainable home, so we are adopting a fabric-first approach and retaining the majority of the existing building. Any parts of the building being demolished will have its brickwork re-used elsewhere, ensuring the embodied carbon is kept as low as possible.

The scheme has now been submitted for Planning application.

People-centred Development

Our scheme in Littlehampton involves the creation of 50no. new high-quality homes and significant public realm design. A series of three low-rise buildings combine to address main streets, as well and form a new public realm – so each building elevation is treated with high design standard as they are in effect all front elevations. A lively, people-centred public realm and landscaped area lies at the heart of the scheme for residents and the wider community to be a part of and engage within; while creating a soft public space against the harder road infrastructure surrounding the site; with plenty of tree planting for carbon sequestration and food-growing.

Working with Urban Symbiotics, each new building retains a similar 3 – 3.5storey scale, reflecting the low-rise nature of the sites’ context. The buildings are orientated to take advantage of natural daylight incorporating dual and triple aspect units; and adopt a fabric-first approach. The public open space is well-overlooked encouraging a safe space for children’s play while creating connections between the site and its wider context.

Littlehampton achieved Planning in December 2020.

“Gbolade Design Studio is performing and exceeding the expectations set out in the Client Brief. We are particularly pleased that the Gbolade Design Studio team have met ALL design programme milestones and maintained the programme with all other consultants under their direction. We are happy to provide the strongest recommendation for Gbolade Design Studio”

Ken Drumm - Development Director: Viella Land and Placemakers London

NET-ZERO HOMES

Hermitage Mews has been recognised for numerous industry awards including:

• 2024 | Inside Housing Best Development <3 storeys Winner

• 2024 | BD Net Zero Architect of the Year Winner

• 2024 | Architects Journal Housing Project 2024 Winner

• 2024 | BD Private Housing Architect of the Year Finalist

Hermitage Mews is a compilation of 8no. high-quality net-zero townhouses, designed as highly sustainable and completing on site in spring 2024. The project is built on a long and thin plot of land in the London Borough of Croydon and is an infill of a gap-site in a suburban part of the borough. The development hosts a mix of 3 and 4 bedroom homes including dual aspect dwellings and doors addressing the street; encouraging neighbourliness and natural surveillance.

The scheme has been designed to achieve the RIBA 2030 Climate Challenge, thereby meeting high-sustainability standards, with low operational energy and low embodied carbon targets. Our sustainability approach used timber for construction and for the main structural elements, thereby reducing the embodied carbon. The building adopts a fabric-first approach to the walls, floors, and roofs, with a robust mechanical ventilation strategy, reducing the operational energy required to run each home, and provide a comfortable home with low energy bills. Additionally, overheating was modelled and mitigated to respond to our more extreme temperatures as a result of the climate emergency. Green roofs and significant planting has been incorporated on site to increase it’s biodiversity net gain while providing wildlife corridors for habitat.

Placemaking:

We are part of the design team working with LB Croydon on the Purley Strategic Framework, led by Urban Symbiotics. We are guiding the creation of successful and sustainable placemaking by providing robust and flexible environmental and socio-economic guidance for development and investment in Purley; supporting polices and requirements outlined in the Development Plan, and providing evidence to feed-in to the Local Plan review.

Final Draft of Purley Strategic Framework document can be found Here.

Consultation Website: https://futurepurley.com/

Our proposals also look at addressing the regeneration of the changing Purley High Street, specifically bringing ideas to support the recovery of the high-street following the covid-19 pandemic and recession. For this important work, we are working in collaboration with an ambitious team including Urban Symbiotics, Momentum Transport Consultancy, McGregor Coxall, Graham Harrington Planning.

HITHER GREEN, LEWISHAM

Gbolade Design Studio are have been appointed by Lewisham Council to look at the feasibility of a 100no development scheme on a brownfield site in Hither Green. The scheme will include accommodation for affordable housing, and will adopt the hightest sustainability principles to ensure environmental, social ill and economic growth for residents.

MIXED-USE RETROFIT DEVELOPMENT IN FELIXSTOWE Conservation Area

Gbolade Design Studio have submitted planning for the conversion of a heritage building from an existing commercial development which formerly hosted Barclays Bank, into a mixed-use development that now accommodates co-working space and 9no. new apartments.

The building is located on Hamilton Road and is situated in a vibrant part of Felixstowe Conservation Area, characterised by a mix of commercial and residential properties. The site is located on the corner of Hamilton Road and Victoria Street and is of architectural prestige and a local landmark, with high quality red brickwork and intricate detailing accommodated on the façade. 

Our proposal looks to retain the existing building in its entirety and ensure the heritage architectural quality of the building is retained and enhanced. The proposed retrofit will be carried out to the highest retrofit standards and in alignment adopt a PAS2035 retrofit approach.

A modern intervention towards the rear will adopt the key form and massing of the existing building, including its striking pitched roof; yet it will be designed as a clearly modern rear extension that is clad in bronze; a modern take on the red brick dominated building. The views from the new apartments will be maximised by looking towards the sea.

Student accommodation & pavilion

Gbolade Design Studio have been appointed by Flagship Group to extend this 300no. bed student accommodation with a mature student block. We will also be providing the student ‘Tripos Pavillion’ to accommodate over 300no. students. We adopted an approach where we saw the existing students as experts. Following our consultation process, the pavilion looks to be complete with flexible spaces, rooftop loungers, and, you guessed it, sound-proof party hub! - not really, but close enough!

Sustainability Strategy: Environmental, Social & Economic

Our Director, Tara Gbolade, led the preparation and delivery of the Harlow and Gilston Garden Town (HGGT) Sustainability Guidance and Checklist – a strategy that set practical and technical requirements for the Environmental, Social, and Economic sustainability ambitions for new developments. HGGT was designated a Garden Town by MHCLG in 2018 and is a partnership of five Authorities including Hertfordshire and Essex County Councils - creating 23,000 new homes, community amenities, and social infrastructure, at the heart of the UK’s Innovation Corridor over the next 20+ years.

We are proud to say that the document is considered innovative and was an Finalist at the National Urban Design Awards hosted by Urban Design Group: Link to what the judges said Here.

The Sustainability Guidance will be adopted to carry material planning weight in assessing major planning applications across the district areas. Tara will also deliver planning officer training on sustainability. Link to Garden Town Website

The Sustainability Guidance and Checklist went through public consultation and information on this can be accessed here

Sustainability Strategy: Environmental, Social & Economic

We are working with Epping Forest DC to prepare their Sustainability Guidance – a strategy that will be endorsed and given planning weight in assessing incoming planning applications, and sets the direction for practical and technical requirements for the Environmental, Social, and Economic sustainability for council-led & affordable, and, new developments across the district.

Passivhaus in Portslade

Gbolade Design Studio have been appointed by Brighton & Hove Council to provide new council homes on a site replacing a former police office and disused stores in Portslade. The homes form part of the Councils’ Hidden Homes Programme, building new rented council homes on council-owned sites across the council. The homes are a mix of 2 and 3Bed Houses designed to Passivhaus standards and utilise offsite construction. The tight site sits awkwardly on the end of an existing row of terrace houses, navigates a steep topography from the front to the rear of the site.

Luxurious living in Conservation Areas

This project saw Gbolade Design Studio re-purpose this existing historic commercial building for 9no. stunning apartments - while retaining the retail space to the ground floor. Being in a Conservation Area, and right on the doorstep of the high-street meant we needed to respond to this building with care.

Socially Sustainable Developments

Watling Gate is an exciting, new build development in Sittingbourne comprising of a 242no. unit residential development for Sanctuary Group, including; 2/3/4Bed houses, apartments, and over 55’s accommodation, for affordable rent, shared ownership and outright sale, all designed to be tenure-blind. The project is Sanctuary’s largest and most ambitious project to date, with funding from Homes England. The site sits on the edge of the Milton Regis Conservation Area, and forms part of Sittingbourne’s Regeneration Masterplan Area. The design is landscape-led and strongly promotes social value through public formal and informal social spaces including a green finger which runs across the site, navigating its challenging topography and connecting to the historic high street; and includes an outdoor amphitheatre. This project was undertaken at RG+P with the GDS director as Project Lead and lead Architect.

Gbolade Design Studio designed and gained Planning for this single dwelling passivhaus scheme in Whistable, Kent. This unique site with constraints including; a challenging topography, the majority of the site being located in a flood zone, and the site being located in a Conservation Area, it was important that the resulting response adopted a sensitive approach in accommodating these climatic and contextual characteristics. The resulting scheme is a single residential dwelling passivhaus that works with the sites’ topography; starting as a contextually responsive single-storey building addressing the main road, and accommodating an significant change of level internally, expressing dramatic internal manipulation of light and volume that overlook the beautiful dense woods and stream running towards the rear of the site. The building was completed in early 2024.

Click ‘play’ button below to access 3D model

Timber House, Chislehurst

Timber House is a residential scheme undertaken for a domestic client in Kent which needed to undergo a complete restoration and improvement programme. The plan was re-organised to carve out new light into the heart of the building, flooding a new double-height entrance way with natural light while creating a visual connection between the first floor and entrance. This newly introduced light travels through to the rear of the house which was re-orientated to address the garden and organised into 3 distinct spaces that flow into each other; a place to cook, a place to eat, a place to lounge.

Created by award-winning Gbolade Design Studio, the 2019 Sunday Times: British Home Awards shortlisted r-Home is a Beautifully Spacious, Highly Sustainable, Offsite Home – designed with a Garden Courtyard in its heart to promote health & wellbeing.

Designed for innovative self-builders, housing associations, local authorities & volume builders, the affordable 2/3/4Bed r-Home is designed to work in detached, semi-detached, or terraced configurations – Designed to be Delivered Sustainably, and Efficiently.

Residential Conversion of Listed High Royds Hospital

The restoration and retrofit of Chevin Park to its former glory boasts an impressive collection of 1, 2 & 3 bedroom refurbished Victorian apartments and townhouses alongside prestigious 3, 4 & 5 bedroom new build homes. The award-winning development in Menston, West Yorkshire, is set in 200 acres of parkland and offers a unique lifestyle and leisure facilities within the grounds include tennis courts, a cricket pavilion, ponds, bridleways, footpaths and landscaped gardens. The existing Grade I & II Listed Buildings have an interesting history as they were once the High Royds Hospitals.

Avant Homes | Chevin Park Clock Tower | Menston

This project was undertaken at DLK with the GDS director as Architect.  

West London Living

We love it when clients become friends! Our client extended their home including a vaulted ceiling to the rear where they could borrow additional daylight thrown into their existing home.

Luxurious Retirement Living

Designed for McCarthy & Stone’s over 60’s accommodation, Walter House accommodates 45 new apartments situated in beautiful Chelmsford, and a short walk from the train station. The design was raised on the ground floor to accommodate green infrastructure to encourage carbon sequestration, and keep the residents away from the busy vehicular route surrounding part of the site. The aesthetic is broken up across the site to accommodate and reflect its varying context, while adding interest and intrigue to an otherwise long and narrow site. The proposal accommodates a stunning residents’ lounge located on the top floor, taking advantage of stunning views across the city. The proposal was designed to high environmentally sustainable standards including energy efficiency and accommodation of renewable technology such as PV’s. This project was undertaken at RG+P with the GDS director as Project Lead and lead Architect.

Gbolade Design Studio were part of the collaborative team led by Patel Taylor, working on Grahame Park estate regeneration in Barnet, London for Notting Hill Genesis in partnership with Barnet Council. The masterplan provides 2,088 new homes on a 13.3 hectare site.

Our design adopts a placeshaping-led approach that prioritises pedestrian movement across the site; maximising opportunities for natural overlooking and shared play.

A new high street will stitch the proposed design into its surrounding neighbourhoods, with sustainable and active travel connecting new ancillary facilities including a new community centre, flexible workspaces for local businesses, cafes and restaurants, a nursery, and shops.

Gbolade Design Studio are leading the design of the townhouses to sensitively respond to its characterful historic setting on one side, while addressing the newly landscaped gardens connected by a podium on the other side. The townhouses respond to the existing topography and mature tree landscape of the site, maximising opportunities for natural surveillance over a pedestrian-prioritised shared walk.

Hatcham and Ilderton Road, Southwark, London |

National Model Design Code (NMDC)

Gbolade Design Studio worked on developing the Hatcham and Ilderton Design Code for Southwark Council as one of the early pilots for DLUHC National Model Design Code (NMDC), and the only one in London! The design team was led by Farrells, and we worked alongside our friends at Exterior Architecture.

The NMDC was developed for the site allocation known as OKR 16 in the Old Kent Road Area Action Plan (AAP) for Southwark Council, and forms part of wider regeneration plans for the Old Kent Road Area.

Find here a link to the Old Kent Road Website: https://oldkentroad.org.uk/documents/

And find here a link to the released document: https://oldkentroad.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/HatchamIldertonDesignCode.pdf

The developed process ensured local residents, businesses, schools, faith groups and other organisations were involved in preparing the guidance; framed around a series of workshops held at local venues and online discussions.

The pilot built upon the existing OKR 16 master-planning and design guidance contained in the AAP and focused on issues raised during consultation, which will feed into the next version of the Southwark AAP.

This included exploring:

• Design requirements which help to reconcile the mix of industrial and residential uses

• Design requirements and specification for industrial uses

• Providing greater clarity around the character of streets, including:

  • the design and scale of ground floor frontages;

  • the architectural expression of different uses;

  • landscaping and public open space and approaches to servicing which enable the continued occupation of industrial users, while also managing an increasing residential population

Garage Sites

We are working with a large Housing Association on designs for a range of tight infill garage sites across Suffolk. 

Led by a strong placemaking brief, the affordable homes will be sustainable homes and are being designed to positively impact the local communities well beyond the ‘red-line’. The homes are constructing using Modern Methods of Construction (MMC), and this offsite construction methodology extended to hard landscape features including benches & cycle storage.

Led by a strong placemaking brief, the affordable homes will be sustainable homes and are being designed to positively impact the local communities well beyond the ‘red-line’. The homes are constructing using Modern Methods of Construction (MMC), and this offsite construction methodology extended to hard landscape features including benches & cycle storage.

In the face of responding responsibly to our climate emergency, each site responds sustainably to its micro-climate, adopting passive design principles including; orientation to respond to solar gains, maximising natural light & views out, responding to and making use of the existing site topography, green infrastructure retention  and expansion for a biodiversity net gain.

All proposals include multi-use interventions; building on local community strengths to encourage and extend cultural activities that compliment, rather than compete with existing programmes such as spaces for music rehearsals to build upon the local symphony orchestra history, art classes in an outdoor amphitheatre and shared street dinners. Educational and leisure activities cater for residents of varying ages, while promoting sustainable movement through interesting walking routes and accessible cycle stores. 

Our understanding of the local context has provided opportunities for hyper-local community & social cohesion.

WATERLOO STATION MASTERPLAN

A Vision for the transformation of one of the busiest transport hubs in the UK

Commissioned by Lambeth Council and Network Rail in 2022, Gbolade Design Studio have worked on the development of Waterloo Station Masterplan, London.

The project, led by Grimshaw Architects, sets the vision for the transformation of the busiest transport hub in the UK, Waterloo Station and its public realm, enhancing the everyday experience for the 100 million passengers that move through the station annually.

Gbolade Design Studio focused on regeneration of the public realm through placemaking and meanwhile uses, with key input from local residents and communities, businesses, stakeholders, and visitors; through close working with project partners Network Rail, South Bank BID, South Bank Employers Group, We Are Waterloo BID, HB Reavis, Bourne Capital, SB Royal Holdings Ltd and LCR.

A Major New Urban Destination Full of Character and Energy

Explorations include an opportunity to unlock the edges of Waterloo Station, with the station perimeter being transformed into activated, permeable, and welcoming frontages; utilising new fully pedestrianised plazas with increased footfall along vibrant, safe, walkable streets day and night.

The masterplan builds on Waterloo’s rich cultural and commercial character; connecting to the street market on Lower Marsh, the entertainment and restaurant energy along The Cut, the cultural history of London’s Southbank, buzz and activity of Waterloo Road, and the unique graffiti art district on Leake Street.

Active travel, safety, and legibility are of critical importance and the masterplan will look to enhance established routes while proposing new routes for walking and cycling, supporting Lambeth Council’s sustainability commitment to achieving Net Zero by 2030 – linking to the Future Neighbourhoods 2030 (FN2030) goals.

Design team
Client: Lambeth Council and Network Rail
Architecture and Masterplanning Lead: Grimshaw
Placemaking and Meanwhile Uses: Gbolade Design Studio
Landscape:  Exterior Architecture
Engineering and Transport:  WSP
Social Value and Socio-Economics:  Hatch
Stakeholder Engagement and Planning:  Iceni
Cost & Phasing:  Turner & Townsend
Financing and Viability: Savills

We are excited to be working with a local church in Edmonton, London on retrofitting their existing church building. We achieved Planning Approval for this church building and construction has commenced on site! The deep retrofit and reorganisation of spatial requirements internally will increase the seating capacity for Sunday services, while allowing the building to be maximised in terms of occupancy and shared use throughout the week. The reorganisation of key spaces including the existing foyer will bring considerable improvements to the ‘flow’ of congregation and visitors alike.

Through the clever optimisation of the internal spaces, the ceiling heights will be raised and new roof lights will bring natural light deep into the floor plan - allowing visitors to connect with the natural environment more directly.

The deep retrofit includes upgrading the walls, floors and roof in order to adopt a fabric-first approach in how the building performs moving forward. The windows are to be replaced from single glazed to new high-quality double gazed ones, while allowing better user control. An Air Source Heat Pump (ASHP) will make the retrofitted building fossil-fuel free, and an MVHR will deliver improved and controlled ventilation to the building. The existing building has an EPC rating of ‘E’ and the retrofit will improve this significantly up to an EPC ‘B’ rating.

Construction starts in the spring of 2024 and is due for completion in spring of 2025.

RE-WILDING THE CROFT

Gbolade Design Studio were part of a collaborative team including Prior & Partners & Gillespies for this competition in Tamworth, led by Homes England, where we sit in their Framework (DaRTS Lot 2).

‘Re-Wilding The Croft’ emerged as a vision for this new neighbourhood after gaining insight from and undertaking analysis of this part of Tamworth. ‘Re-wilding The Croft’ also takes into consideration the key overlapping themes observed from our SWOT Analysis, Tamworth Borough Council’s own Corporate Strategy (entitled their ‘Vision’), and the Building for a Healthy Lifestyle pre-assessment undertaken for the site earlier this year, critically focusing on the ideas of; Integrated neighbourhoods, Distinctive Places, and Streets for All. From this, our ‘Re-wilding the Croft’ concludes with 5 key themes of: A Regenerative Neighbourhood, Heritage & Housing, Feiminist City Principles, Sustainable Movement, and Encouraging Entrepreneurship.