David Walker
Chips are sets of interacting or interdependent components, plus all the data that goes into them.
We look at what makes up that environment, how it’s constructed, and its ability to be reused and adapted over time.We consider the whole lifecycle of the scheme and always aim to maximise social value in construction.. Our Design to Value approach to projects allows us to consider social value in every aspect of the new asset.
We analyse and understand the requirements of every project to investigate how the components of the building meet the correct criteria, be that its location, the process it needs to provide for, or the wellbeing of the users.We maximise the value of the asset by balancing a wide range of criteria.. Design to Value may lead to a solution that is very different to the one initially conceived, but it will be a solution that is fully thought through, appropriate and complete; a built asset that delivers value across the piece.This leads to wide-ranging benefits: cost-savings, increases in speed, quality and safety, and the creation of more sustainable buildings with projects delivering greater social value.. Social value in architecture, focusing on process.
In 2019, our project with GSK in Parma, Italy, won a ‘Facility of the Year Award’ for social impact from the International Society for Pharmaceutical Engineering (ISPE).The project delivered a finished and operational facility in just 15 months, as opposed to the usual three to four years.
The purpose of the facility was to ensure continuity of supply of a vital HIV treatment, and therefore the social value of the project was huge.
The focus was not the building and its aesthetic value, but the process it allowed for, and the lifesaving drug it produced.The Forge is designed to a zero carbon in use strategy, with a forecast a forecast 19.4% reduction in embodied carbon per square metre, a 36.4% carbon reduction in the substructure and 20.2% in the superstructure and façade.. As well as this, the construction system allows for a greater level of efficiency in the build, fewer materials, and a significant reduction in site operatives required for the superstructure and façade.
The programme has been reduced by 19%, allowing for an accelerated construction period and less disruption to the surrounding community and area.. A predicted 9.5% reduction in capital cost is a significant benefit of the system for the client, with the economic benefit for the area being 139,000 sq ft of high-quality commercial office space.. Placemaking.Our projects also look at tangible social benefits.
In the Churchwood Gardens project, it was placemaking that led the scheme and was key to the social value of the project.. Bryden Wood worked with Loromah Estates to transform a sloping, landlocked in-fill site in south London with a history of failed planning applications, into a thriving community of residential blocks set in a verdant landscape.The back-land site had been undeveloped since the 1960s.. A sensitive approach to planning and active engagement with the surrounding residents through early-stage neighbourhood consultation was fundamental to the scheme’s success.