Wood Knowledge Wales Competition Entry

Gillard Associates Ltd

The Home Grown Homes Project

Expression of Interest Structural Solutions Ltd

OUR VISION We share the project’s vision of designing a home grown home (HGM) using Welsh products where possible to stimulate the forestry economy, generate employment, and reduce reliance on non renewable building technology.

The answer to this can be found in the motor industry, to which the world of building is often adversely compared. The same basic model of vehicle can be configured for motor size and fuel type, colours, internal fit out, and trim. Even though there are relatively few variables, the differing combinations can quickly become numerous.

For the project to be successful, and meet local and national need for quality housing, OSM is essential. But our experience with modular and OSM design tells us that tooling up is a significant investment. To make this investment worthwhile there will need be consistent and significant demand, so making the product attractive to as wide a market as possible will be crucial.

In our vision, the HGH will be a mass produced and precision engineered timber structure, capable of taking imposed loads on external walls to allow flexibility of internal layout and make the home adaptable according to age and circumstance.

Unfortunately, 'cooky cutter' production for housing is not attractive: occupants need to live in places, not units.

Placemaking depends on creating an appropriate identity. Our experience in sustainable housing design is that there is no such thing as ‘one size fits all’.

Every client has different requirements. The needs of RSLs will not be the same as for a private developer selling houses to the open market; a self builder might well be an eco warrior.

We would like to explore the possibility of producing Welsh CLT (cross laminated timber) which we feel is achievable. It can be prepared using CNC cutting and therefore able to be closely controlled by BIM software.

This structure is the platform on which a variety of external and internal finishes, are installed, according to context, local availability, and taste. For eample, roofs can be tiled, grassed, sheeted, slated or turned into energy collectors.

External materials will vary according to location, the micro climates of Barry and Bethys are very different.

There will be a service core designed to facilitate a choice of plant and equipment depending on the energy source and benchmark selected. The engine of choice could be a simple condensing gas boiler or a sophisticated heat pump.

Building regulations between the four countries in the union continue to diverge.

Other choices will relate to cost in use and other factors such as renewable content, cradle to cradle thinking.

For some people the building regulations standards are sufficient (in some areas a house without a fire is not a home). For others, a Passivhaus certificate will be desirable.

There is a whole range of benchmarking in between, from CSH levels, AECB Gold Silver and Bronze. A badge mounted on the façade could announce what sort of performance the home achieves.

Using BIM /IFC properties, along with thermal modelling software, each variation can be costed, and assessed for energy use. The customer gets to balance all the variables depending on what is important to them.

Not least, affordability is a key consideration. Build cost is closely related to specification. Aiming for a sub £100k house is achievable but only when mass production is brought to bear and the supply chain established. For this to work, long term thinking and continuity of demand is key to maintaining confidence and investment.

So how to address the apparent dichotomy: between the need for mass production and the desire for personalisation?

"We believe that an eco-house configurator could provide easy and open access to almost limitless customer choice in home design.

Using a software platform to co ordinate variables based on IFC properties generated by the BIM model will provide the breakthrough the housing industry needs to generate interest and engagement from the client and control as yet unrealised outside the world of motor manufacture for the supplier.

This combination of CLT, OSM, BIM, and close collaboration between the architect, engineer, and timber industry is capable of generating the consistent demand and quality of product required to justify investment and supply quality housing appropriate to need, location, and budget.

The concept is is not just a home grown house - its a home grown process from desktop to building site leading to economic development across the Welsh supply chain."

Alan Gillard Peter Beresford October 25th 2018

OUR EXPERIENCE Gillard Associates and Structural Solutions have successfully designed and delivered homes, houses, flats, hostels and private residences of all shapes and sizes: ∑ micro shelters for homeless people ∑ social housing ∑ speculative eco development ∑ residential hostel ∑ bespoke housing (tree house!) ∑ co housing ∑ listed and historic buildings The common theme of all these developments: 1 The use of timber structure and components ∑ Traditional lightweight timber frame ∑ Engineered timber frame ∑ Composite timber frame ∑ Structural Insulated Panels (SIP) ∑ Hybrid timber frame solutions ∑ Home grown timber (Welsh larch) ∑ Cladding, decking, shingles, doors windows, flooring etc etc We are familiar with the opportunities and constraints of the material through theory and practice, sometimes hands on, and by being interested and involved in woodmanship.

2 BIM The practice delivers BIM Level 2 to PAS 1192.2 enabling collaboration with designers and supply chain to fully test designs before building - a prerequisite for OSM and integration of M&E. The Quaypad project is an example of how we have used BIM to create modular floating buildings to order.

The Quaypad project is an exemplary OSM project using timber for moulds and GRP/sheet metal under workshop conditions

3 Placemaking and Benchmarking Houses are not units, they are places where people should thrive. We design ‘fabric first’ dwellings for LivEco (see projects pages) which reach a high standard of sustainability at affordable prices.

4 Integration of Renewable Energy Systems We have extensive theoretical and practical knowledge of renewable M&E installations and have designed homes with · Heat pumps (ASHP, GSHP, EAHP) · MVHR · Solar (PV and heating) · Biomass (pellet, wood) · inter seasonal heat storage Overheating is now becoming more important and we have a number of passive cooling solutions which have proved successful in recent summers.

All GA projects are produced with BIM protocol and collaboration to ensure architecture structure and MEP are co ordinated before manufacture of components

GREAT HOUSE FARM

Sustainable community housing in St Fagans, Cardiff

Construction Excellence in Wales 2014 Sustainability Award Shortlisted for Welsh National Eisteddfod 2015 Shortlisted for RICS Housing Awards 2015 Premier Guarantee Environmental Project of the Year 2013 Alan Gillard was a co founder of LivEco along with the developer, Daniel Ball.

The success of the LivEco project, which brought several distinctions to the practice including the Construction Excellence in Wales Award, was achieved by the architects' use of BIM to establish and maintain control of information and achieved Code 4 without the use of renewables.

It was also the subject of an inspiring book by Clare Nash: here's what she wrote as a preface.

"Across the UK are poorly designed, brick-box housing schemes that look the same whether in Northampton or Southampton – often in a naïve attempt to replicate the ‘traditional’. So amid demands to deliver thousands of affordable new homes fast and within strict energy targets, have we lost sight of what really makes a house a home? And when the UK is such a rich composition of diversity, why can’t this be evident in our housing?

Contemporary Vernacular Design shows that it can. Selecting key examples from around the world, it presents 25 housing schemes that draw on traditional vernacular principles whilst taking into account modern day materials, methods and financial or energy requirements. These are schemes that ‘fit’ their surroundings; homes that generate a sense of place, community and regional identity.

Through first-hand site visits and interviews with both architects and residents, each case-study explores how the schemes were delivered, how they have been received by the community, and how passive principles of vernacular design were applied to create true sustainability. All framed within a wider discussion on what vernacular architecture really is today, this book provides an insightful response to the question, how can British housing rediscover its soul?"

Testimonial from Ms Jenny Jacobs No. 4 Great House Rise "I was looking to downsize from my family home and wanted to reduce my utility bills as I am now retired and want to know where my money goes! The LivEco home was perfect, well designed homes, with space for storage, that are great to live in and also cheap to run - I'm very happy and proud to live here, especially when my friends come round and say they love it too!!"

Testimonial from Mr Daniel Ball, LivEco

ground floor living space

"I am very pleased with the service provided by Gillard Associates. Their expertise in sustainable housing design has been invaluable if not groundbreaking.

Under difficult circumstances Alan managed the JCT contract and helped keep the project on budget.

He runs a very professional customer focused practice and Iook forward to continuing with the next phase of the project with Gillard Associates." interior / exterior

Off site manufacture of structural timber frame and cassettes

.two bedroom dwellings

The LivEco Village, St Fagans Top: Phase 2 apartments recently completed Above: Site layout of Phase 3, presently at the detailed design stage, sees the addition of 13 new dwellings from 2 bed single storey houses to 4 bed two storey houses.

'The holistic approach taken at design stage is ground-breaking, and this is when key decisions, that have the most impact on the sustainability of the project, are made.

Great House Farm is a clear demonstration to the house building community and shows the benefits of a commitment to sustainability' CEW 'Sustainability-Our Legacy' award citation

LOW ENERGY HOUSE New Code 5 Dwelling, Dyffryn

looking towards the garden

Gillard Associates have carried out a lot of research into low energy houses, particularly in continental Europe. Making sure of the supply chain for all the various components and systems was a challenge, but this project , constructed under our direct management, has achieved an outstanding ambition for the clients who wanted a zero energy dwelling.

Heating is provided by a ground source heat pump, which also allows low energy cooling when connected to a dew point sensor, to compensate for low thermal mass in the construction.

The clean and simple layout uses the minimum of material, and takes advantage of views and solar radiation.

The building envelope is well insulated using SIPS panels and triple glazed windows. SIPS also provides good air tightness, to further increase energy efficiency. Fresh air at ambient temperatures is provided by a whole house system with heat recovery, and the resulting heat loads are very low – less than 4 kW on the predicted coldest day.

Domestic hot water demand is provided by the heat pump in winter but backed up by a solar thermal system in summer. A rainwater harvesting system is also specified, providing filtered water to wcs and for garden use.

The roof is fitted with an array of photvoltaic cells which makes the building almost carbon neutral. The owners are reporting a net profit well into four figures annually.

Gillard Associates project managed the build to ensure that the client's budget was met; costs were controlled by tendering work packages and tight docuemntation.

The project was delivered in 7 months. glazed entrance hall

exploded axonometriy

materials / balcony

The house is an energy factory selling renewable energy to the national grid.

With environmental software used by the practice the predictions about energy consumption were validated and exceeded by our clients once they settled in.

Currently the building is making the clients in the region of ÂŁ2500 pa.

The illustrations far right show the fast sequence of installing OSM SIP panels the main envelope was installed in a few days.

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raised grass embankment around boundary: max 1m

bicycle store with sedum roof: height 1.5m

existing stone walls sand blasted and pointed

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timber board boundary fence

boundary hedging 1.8m

recycling

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cedar cladding to store with sliding door front existing timber stone walls sand and rear blasted and pointed

area for nesting barn owls

2 car parking spaces (partly within shared courtyard as extant application)

new 1.5m retaining stone wall

fixed vertical timber slats bathroom

bedroom 2

balcony existing arrow slit window to remain

kitchen

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sedum flat roof of store fixed vertical timber slats

raised level allows original windows to remain

fixed horizontal timber slats provide screening from distant view

bi-fold shutters shown in open position

operable shutters with horizontal timber louvres

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glazed roof to draught lobby

external power point

Comfobox

wc hall

all lights and glazed doors: aluminium grey painted

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living

biomass fire

library

reuse of existing stonework blocking steels entrance way brought forward to create draught lobby existing arrow slit window to remain existing stone walls sand footprint blasted and of existing building pointed

footprint of existing building

structural internal skin to reduce steel RW demand to onRWH downpipe existing tank belowstructure ground and ensure airtight building

steel RW downpipe to RWH tank below ground

rain water harvesting tank

GILLARD ASSOCIATES balcony

Client

Job Title

existing stone walls sand blasted and pointed Rockpanel dark grey cladding

vertical evacuated solar thermal panel system provides shading and DHW

neighbouring barn

boundary hedge 1.8m raised (1m max) grass embankment

Proposals: Ground Floor Plan

TO SCALEUpper @ A3 Floor - 1:100

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structural internal skin to reduce demand on existing structure and ensure airtight building

neighbouring dwelling

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architecture and design 7 Kemps Covert St Donats Llantwit Major CF61 1YZ Tel No 02920 706520 alan.gillard@gillardassociates.co.uk Client

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Barn B Doghill Farm Dyffryn Proposals: Upper Floor Plan Date

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GILLARD ASSOCIATES

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Following the 'fabric first' approach, stonework has been maintained, high efficiency timber frame dwelling has been erected and sustainable devices have been installed, being part of the general design and providing what the clients were searching for: a place to live in harmoniously with the surrounding nature

architecture and design

master bedroom

7 Kemps Covert St Donats Llantwit Major CF61 1YZ Tel No 02920 706520 alan.gillard@gillardassociates.co.uk

Barn B Doghill Farm Dyffryn

timber board boundary fence and gate

stonework blocking entrance way brought forward to create draught lobby

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double heihgt

grey painted

reuse of existing steels bi-fold shutters with fixed horizontal timber slats to provide shading, security and privacy

study/bed 3

balcony

draught all lights and glazed lobby doors: aluminium

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TO SCALE @ A3 - 1:100

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TSF Revision

VALLEYS KIDS

Residential and Activity Centre, Little Bryn Gwyn, The Gower, Wales

residential wing and service shed nearly completed

Valleys Kids is a charitable organisation who help to transform communities, families and young people though a variety of initiatives. Owners of Little Bryn Gwyn, a 6 acre piece of paradise on the Gower, the charity bring groups throughout the year to participate in a wide range of outdoor activities including coastal walks, camping, orienteering, bike rides, team building and bush craft sessions.

Welsh timber was sourced and utilised in a number of different ways. Detailing enabled both skilled and unskilled labour to participate in the build

The client, teaming with contractor Down to Earth who also specialize in working with ‘hard to reach’ and ‘disadvantaged’ groups, envisioned a new residential and activity centre that includes the people who would use it to help build it.

Gillard Associates were comissioned to realise and oversee this unique project which sees the demolition of an existing cottage and bunkhouse give way to a state of the art, centre The new building comprises a two storey residential wing linked to an activity centre via a shared lobby. Together with a seperate ancillary service barn, the organic structures required a rigorous and pragmatic design approach and examplar of sustainable excellence.

Through the use of BIM modelling software, and close collaboration with the client, contractor, and design team, the conceived timber frame structure allowed a significant part of the construction assembly to be done by volunteers.

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residential wing

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activity wing

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reciprical roof plan for activity wing

detail as built

1. shared entrance lobby 2. disabled wc 3. multi activity room 4. bedroom 5. residential stair 6. reception 7. services 8. store 9. kitchen 10. multi-actiity hall 11. snug with fireplace 12. turf roof

residential stair well during construction

BIM modelling software has enabled effective collaboration, visualisation and coordination during the pre-construction and construction phases of the Valley's Kids Centre .

The illustrations above and right show how the structure of the centre is created using Welsh larch .

We worked closely with Structural Solutions worked and contractor to evolve a set of components and simple techniques able to be competently carried out by non skilled labour on site.

THE QUAYPAD Floating office

the Quaypad, our floating office moored at the Cardiff Marina

Quaypad is a concept which has come of age. We live in a rapidly changing world which makes increasingly stressful demands on us, and our environment.

Climate change is leading to more flood prone areas. Suddenly, the idea of accommodation which floats, and which can provide a simple and robust solution to our need for comfortable work and living space, makes a lot of sense.

Quaypad can meet your requirement for stylish and flexible space solutions which take advantage of the one remaining under used resource – waterspace.

Quaypads can be designed to provide thermal comfort in virtually any climate – our suppliers can provide heating and air conditioning solutions for vessels destined for Scandinavia and the Persian Gulf. The list of equipment can also include solar pv cells and generators allowing the units to be located away from power supply. In fact virtually every possibility has been considered by our designers who specialise in micro living solutions.

This is another product which has a basic shape but can come in many configurations.

"The Quaypad demonstrates neatly how Gillard Associates can create innovative and stylish envelopes and take the process from concept to delivery by the use of BIM software, a thorough understanding of materials."

17m Quaypad Riverside Lounge, Marlown

The photograph above shows how well the Quaypad fits into its riverside context. The client wanted a luxury lounge which would be impervious to river flooding - a regular occurrence on this part of the Thames and constructed his own dock, connecting the waterfront to his home.

Left: office Quaypad Above: CNC cutting of moulds directly from BIM files rooftop night shot

Tree House Grand Design Using Native Timber Structural Solutions were the engineers selected to deliver the ambitious design of this project, featured on Channel 4's Grand Design programme.

The design consists of three rectangular floors, each one larger and offset from the one below. The projected floors are assisted by sloping slender steel columns to mimic the surrounding trees.

The foundations are screw piles to minimise impact on tree roots, these support a framework of steel and solid timber columns. The floors are glulam timber beams supporting stressed skin decks, comprising solid softwood joists with glued and screwed plywood above and below. The emphasis was to use timber wherever possible only employing steel beams where necessary at first floor to minimise depth and simplify insulation detailing, to achieve Passivhaus standard.

Structural Solutions employs 15 people (13 engineers) and our main speciality is the design of timber structures, most of which are fabricated off site and erected in panels and frames. We routinely produce designs for timber frame panel construction, CLT panel construction, oak and glulam frames (traditional and modern), and SIPP panel construction. Many of our regular clients are specialist contractors and we have a good understanding of the practical issues associated with these forms of construction.

Peter Beresford BSc CEng MIStructE Director

I am a Chartered Engineer with over thirty years’ experience of designing building structures. My first eight years were spent gaining invaluable experience of high quality projects with Buro Happold, in the design office and as Resident Engineer on sites in the UK and abroad. After four further years with a Bristol practice I set up Structural Solutions here and we became a Ltd company in 1998.

Our aim has always been to provide practical buildable solutions for all our clients, with creative engineering flair wherever it is appropriate and helpful! We like to bring attention to detail where it makes a difference to the aesthetic of the building. We are familiar with all the popular construction materials, including all current forms of timber construction, and also some fringe forms such as straw bale houses and reciprocal timber roofs. We endeavour to work well with contractors as well as architects, and my site experience has given me empathy with the difficulties that builders face, so I encourage our engineers to consider buildability and safety in all designs.

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1. St David’s Hospice Care | Newport, Wales | KKE Architects 2. Reciprocal Roof | Down to Earth Project, Swansea | Gillard Associates 3. Smile Dental Surgery | Exeter | David Sheppard Architects 4. Bristol City Council Social Housing | Bristol | Emmett Russell Architects

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Gillard Associates is committed to designing buildings, spaces, products and places which are as striking and innovative as they are socially, economically and environmentally responsible. Driving all of our work is the need to design attractive and environmentally sustainable solutions for living, working and enjoying ourselves.

Legislation requires us to act responsibly in procuring, commissioning and maintaining our building stock while reducing carbon emissions; but we have found that our clients are just as committed to these sustainable principles. By pursuing a rigorous process of research and development we have evolved a ‘recipe’ for building which is capable of satisfying our clients' aspirations as well as the demands of regulation. This process is continuous and takes into account the need for post construction evaluation and review, not least because of the performance gap between theory and what is delivered on site.

We are keen to collaborate with specialists and consultants and use BIM as a way of making sure all stakeholders are engaged in the design process. We currently have three architects in house and can successfully deliver small to medium projects up to around ÂŁ3M contract value.

Alan Gillard BA(Hons) Dip Arch MSc ARB RIBA Director I am a chartered architect with over 30 years experience. My first ten years of practice were gained working in local authority where I built schools and other public buildings. I then moved abroad and worked on large scale commercial projects. After two years renovating an Italian farmhouse doing all carpentry and roofing using locally sourced woodland timber - I founded Gillard Associates to concentrate on designing sustainable buildings in Wales, where I have been since 1998.

My aim from the outset has been to bring to the UK some of the build quality routinely achieved by our counterparts in Europe and Scandinavia, using renewable building materials and passivhaus principles.

Whilst a major part of the practice is in the housing sector, we also consider building communities to be a core value, so we specialise in collaborative design processes and work with a variety of charities and neighbourhood groups to facilitate community buildings, either new, or conversions, or a combination of these.

Clockwise from left: bespoke timber light fitting at Welsh Tai Chi Centre, Newport; refurbishment of student accomodation Atlantic College; remodelling of Tonmawr Community Centre; Bird hide using locally sourced timber, Centre for Alternative Technology

The Quaypad Cardiff Marina Watkiss Way Cardiff CF11 0JL T: +44 (0) 2920 229 133 contact@gillardassociates.co.uk

Dairy Studios 102 Lincoln Street Bristol BS5 0BJ T: +44 (0) 117 924 5014 admin@structuralsolutions.co.uk