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Paradise

London, UK

º£½ÇÊÓƵ brought integrated engineering and sustainability expertise to Paradise, helping the architects unlock every opportunity on a highly constrained site.

Paradise has transformed a neglected and disused site into a forward-looking sustainable office building which has become a test case for promoting awareness around the carbon impact of construction.

The development replaced the disused Costa Coffee roastery on Old Paradise Street in Lambeth, and transformed the site into 60,000ft² of net zero carbon flexible office, work and maker space.

The development has transformed a neglected site into 60,000ft² of net zero carbon flexible office, work and maker space.

Our teams advised on strategies to reduce operational energy use as well as ways to provide on-site energy generation through 250m² photovoltaic solar panels on the roof.

º£½ÇÊÓƵ experts also advised on reducing the embodied carbon footprint through the choice of low carbon materials and the reduction of materials used.

The project achieved BREEAM Outstanding and WELL Gold ratings.

Challenge

The client aspired towards creating a flexible, healthy and sustainable workplace, achieving the industry’s highest wellness standards, along with a real emphasis on natural light, air quality and the ability to be able to engage with nature despite the urban location.

The building backs on to a busy railway mainline, but faces a public park, so particular attention has been given to connecting the building to the nature on its doorstep, while minimising any impact from the railway.

Working closely with architect Feilden Clegg Bradley Studios, º£½ÇÊÓƵ advised across a range of disciplines, including sustainability, building services engineering (MEP), waste and fire safety.

The client had ambitions for a net zero carbon scheme, taking both the operational carbon and the embodied carbon footprint of the scheme into account. The low carbon material nature of wood made a timber frame an attractive option, but it came with a range of challenges, such as stringent fire safety regulations and complexities around building services integration.

Solution

Our building services and sustainability teams worked closely with the architects to create an ultra-sustainable building design – advising on strategies to reduce operational energy use, ways to provide on-site energy generation (250m² photovoltaic solar panels on the roof), and the reduction of the embodied carbon footprint through the choice of low carbon materials and the reduction of materials used.

The design of the facades also supported the passivity of the building by increasing shading and preventing unnecessary heat gain inside.

An all-electric model for the building’s energy allows the scheme to capitalise on access to sustainably generated energy, without any need for natural gas. Heat pumps provide both heating and cooling. We also recovered waste heat from all the IT and server rooms in the building and giving it back to the showers and underfloor heating systems.

The mechanical cooling and heating of spaces automatically shut down when the windows are open, to ensure maximum efficiency. A southwest prevailing wind from across the park will be used for natural ventilation, while the facade facing the railway line is sealed to stop noise and pollution entering the building.

The workplace supports the health and wellbeing of future occupiers from within the building and has been designed with WELL standards in mind.

Paradise is an entirely timber-framed building. The building has a cross-laminated timber structure as well as wooden columns and flooring. The timber structure is exposed, with natural light and ventilation maximised throughout. Our team also provided the latest fire safety advice around working with timber as a structural material.

The generous floor heights and flexible open-plan design, in combination with the servicing strategy, creates a building that is future flexible and ultra-low energy in use. This whole life approach to the building has also been reflected in the careful consideration given to the end-of-life strategy, with recyclable and reusable materials used throughout, and connections for the structure allowing for easy future disassembly.

Value

Our teams have helped the architects to maximise all the opportunities from a constrained site to ensure the building meets the aspirations of the client around flexibility, sustainability and health and wellbeing.

Our work helped Paradise become one of the UK’s most environmentally ambitious office buildings, delivering 413 kgCO₂e/m² embodied carbon (35% below RIBA’s 2030 target), storing 1,884 tonnes of CO₂ in its timber structure, and featuring a fully demountable design with dry mechanical connections to enable future reuse and circularity.

The project has won several awards and has achieved BREEAM Outstanding and WELL Gold ratings.