Clerkenwell Road certified BREEAM Offices Very Good

Encon Associates continue delivering their BREEAM success by certifying Clerkenwell Road for its Offices as Very Good 62.80%.

Back in 2015 Faithdean secured a £2.9 million extension, alteration and Cat-A commercial refurbishment, in partnership with Ben Adams Architects. The aim was to give the building a new lease of life, giving the client an up-to-date and contemporary space for the years to come.

Strong Design Team

A key element of sustainability is teamwork, and this had a very strong team in place. Working alongside Ben Adams Architects, Chris Evans Consulting, and the client Stewart Watson Building Surveyors, the target of BREEAM Very good were achieved in both categories or BREEAM Offices and BREEAM Retail. In addition to this, the Considerate Constructors Scheme awarded Clerkenwell Road a score of 44/50 based on Appearance, Community, Environment, Safety, and Workforce., with thanks to Matthew Mulligan, of Faithdean.

The site was well presented having recently been re-painted. It also had an excellent display of information for the public with company signage, CCS posters, and banners.

The CCS inspector was impressed with the improvements on-site having gone from a good score of 30/50 to an exceptional 44/50 saying "Much has been done since my first visit and the site team have made considerable efforts to more than comply with the scheme to make this an exceptional Considerate Constructor - well done."

The Development Plan

Developments within the Greater London area have to consider various policies, depending on the project. In this case, there were considerations for 'The London Plan, Islington's 'Core Strategy' and Islington's 'Development Management Policies'.

The London Plan policies included:

• Climate Change mitigation
• Minimising Carbon dioxide emissions
• Sustainable Design and Construction
• Retrofitting, and
• Water quality and wastewater infrastructure 

Islington Core Strategy policy relevant to 80 Clerkenwell Road were:

• Sustainable Design

Finally, Islington Development Management Policies relevant to the project were:

• Sustainable Design and Construction
• Energy Efficiency and carbon reduction in minor schemes, and
• Sustainable Design Standards

Additional to this, there were material considerations of sustainable development, in line with the National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF).

Refurbishment of an existing brick office building

This was a refurbishment of an existing brick office building, with a two-storey extension at the 3rd & 4th floors, and a one storey rooftop extension at the fifth level. This included new services throughout, new windows and a new corner entrance. The project compromised of two elements, BREEAM Office and also BREEAM Retail, converting existing B1 office to a flexible B1 Office/ A1 retail space, for the ground floor.