They are the embodiment of a system.
The lockdown imposed on us by the COVID-19 pandemic saw the urban garden-style placemaking at Churchwood Gardens really come into its own.Residents could easily get out of their property and into the natural environment, while still feeling safe..
This level of placemaking, along with the sustainability credentials of the scheme and the added benefit to the existing built environment, is what social value in architecture means to us at Bryden Wood..Constant reflection, evaluation, and improvement.Bryden Wood continues to push as a practice to look at how we can deliver social value through our projects, learning from each scale and sector type to inform better design outcomes.
As a multi-disciplinary company, Bryden Wood has the ability to collaborate across specialities to target each of the strands of social value we have identified, in a holistic approach to design.Through analysing each project’s individual context and its data, we are able to continually iterate design responses, engaging with stakeholders to evaluate and develop our thinking..
This open approach to design takes time, care and, ultimately, collaboration from our clients to help drive it forward.
With rising construction costs and an increased focus on decarbonising our built environment, it’s essential that we do not lose focus on improving the social value and impact of what we create..of existing buildings with adaptive reuse will attenuate the peak demand on the national grid, which is under growing pressure due to the electrification of buildings and transportation..
The downside of retrofitting and reusing buildings is that renovated buildings are, in most cases, still not as energy efficient as new buildings.Depending on the extent of the upgrades in the reused buildings, air quality, thermal insulation and visual experience may not be as good, are not always suitable and may not be flexible enough to accommodate different uses..
It is worth noting that the potential effects of building refurbishment, in terms of operational carbon, embodied carbon and wellbeing, are specific to the characteristics of the existing building.The best results are achieved when the refurbishment is planned carefully from a holistic point of view, addressing all the different factors of the retrofit together..