BIOMORPHIC FORMS & PATTERNS

Prospect

PRESENCE OF WATER

NON-VISUAL CONNECTIONS TO NATURE

NON-VISUAL CONNECTIONS TO NATURE

THERMAL & AIR FLOW VARIABILITY

PRESENCE OF WATER

VISUAL CONNECTIONS TO NATURE

Ground Floor: Creche

Fourth Floor: Group work screen

Fifth Floor: Window seats

Third Floor: Enclosed meeting room

Fifth Floor: Individual workspaces

Internal gardens in circulation space

Timber screen dividing office spaces

A lot of stress can be caused due to difficulties balancing childcare with working hours. Providing a creche as part of the building programme relieves some of this stress allowing them to be more productive during the day.

Slim screens can be used for group discussions or presentations as well as to break up open plan spaces. These could be white boards, cork pin boards or digital screens. These also create a sense of privacy even in an open plan layout.

In some areas of the building direct sunlight can be detrimental to office work by causing glare on computer screens. At upper floors window seats are included along the

South facade for reading, writing or relaxation which should be unaffected by direct light. Desks point outwards on the North facade benefitting from views across the gardens.

Natural daylight can only reach a certain distance into the building, leaving an area along the circulation route devoid of daylight. While these areas can’t be used as long-term workspaces, they are suitable for enclosed meeting spaces that are used for short-term occupancy.

Individual workspaces divided by screens allow for acoustic isolation and a sense of security, but a glass front allows for some daylight and long views across the Water Tower Gardens.

Internal Spaces

Areas of internal gardens feature throughout, in order to provide non-visual experiences with nature to those with limited time to spend in the atrium or gardens. Some also include water features which positively impact on health and well-being as well as contributing to good air quality.

Desks in the main office spaces are designed so that each seat had views to either the atrium, the canal basin, the Water Tower and Gardens, or the River Dee. In order to divide office spaces but retain some element of legibility and for daylight to pass through, vertical timber columns along a glazed screen are used.

Approach from the viaduct

Approach from New Crane Street

View from atrium seating area

Atrium footpath

Group workspaces

Individual workspaces

Shaded garden

New cycle and pedestrian path

Structural Strategy

Having decided that the new building would be built onto the existing brick facade of the Chester Electric Lighting Station, it was important that the structure complimented this. At ground floor the brick outer skin is continued in order to give the impression of a heavy base and to continue the existing facade. Above, however, the structure aims to appear light in order to reduce the visual impact of the building from the road and to draw attention to the existing facade.

The timber frame has been designed on a 7.5m x 7.5m structural grid with a full height 500mm x 500mm glulam timber column at each of the intersections. 600mm x 160mm glulam beams are fixed in twos to each column creating the grid. CLT floor slabs are combined with a raised access floor system to house lighting and electrical cables. As the timber frame is left exposed within the building allowing occupants to appreciate the structure, heating and ventilation pipes are hidden where possible, running along circulation spaces and through enclosed meeting rooms with suspended ceilings. Vents are then used to extract and supply air to the surrounding spaces.

While the primary structural frame of the building requires large timber members in order to span the required distances, narrower pieces of timber are used to support the double skin facade. Externally this gives the impression of a much lighter structure. This double-skin is designed in such a way that allows access to between the layers for maintenance. Perforated steel floors allow for this without preventing its use for ventilation. It also provides opportunities for plants to be grown for additional shading in the Summer.

As the atrium has no responsibility in supporting the floors of the building, the structure becomes lighter towards the top, only needing to support the glazing.

1. Floor finish

2. Raised access floor system

3. Cavity barriers

4. 140mm Rigid board insulation

5. 100mm CLT subfloor

6. Cables suspending ceiling

7. 160x600mm structural Glulam beams spanning 7m between columns

8. Ventilation pipes extracting and supplying air to surrounding workspaces

9. Suspended ceiling

10. Air vent

11. 180mm insulated stud wall for acoustic separation

12. White plaster finish to reflect light where possible

1. Vertical timber mullions (100x150mm)

2. External glazing with steel fixing

3. Timber sill

4. External brickwork

5. Metal wall tie

6. 100mm thick cellulose insulation

7. Damp proof membrane

8. 75mm cavity

9. Inner brickwork

10. Perforated steel floor spanning double skin

11. Vent allowing air flow to double skin

12. Horizontal timber supports

13. Internal glazing

14. 500x100mm vertical and horizontal timber frame hosting curtain wall

15. Steel corner fixing

16. 160x600mm structural Glulam beams spanning 7m between columns

17. 500x500mm glulam column

The strategy for this project involves reducing the environmental impact of the building both in initial construction, and over its lifespan.

Timber was chosen as the primary structure for several reasons. The first is that the initial construction process is quicker and much quieter than other frame materials, reducing the impact on surrounding residents and visitors. Secondly, it is a sustainable material, and, as part of the biophilic design of the building, new trees will be planted both in the atrium and as part of the landscape proposal for the project.

With regard to heating and ventilation the building aims to rely on natural sources where