
Client_
The Africa Centre
Designer_Freehaus
Services_Building Services & Environmental Design
Sector_Cultural and Sport
The Africa Centre
OR Consulting are acting as low carbon building services consultants for the redevelopment of the existing Gunpowder House in Southwark to create a a new home for The Africa Centre.
The project will transform the existing building into a cafe, bar & lounge, a gallery and performance space, a digital learning & research centre and a business suite.
Our proposal features a number of ‘lean’, ‘mean’ and ‘green’ environmental strategies to optimise the performance of the building, including:
- Super-insulating the existing roof of the main building.
- Utilizing the use of the building’s existing concrete frame to allow for passive thermal mass cooling.
- Optimising daylighting within the building and reducing the need for artificial lighting requirements.
- Utilising the existing staircase as a thermal chimney to encourage passive ventilation in winter.
- Employing photovoltaic panels at roof level to generate electricity.
- The design of a building wide heat recovery strategy to utilise air source heat pumps.
- Specification of low water sanitary fittings and low energy light fittings.
- Working alongside Freehaus to specify materials with high recycled content and low embodied carbon.