Climate Resilience

The Genesis Centre is made up of four pavilions, each demonstrating a different sustainable form of construction: straw, earth, clay and timber.

The Churchview Short Breaks Unit was underperforming, with occupant comfort issues including cold draughts, overheating, and temperature swings that presented direct risks to the wellbeing of a vulnerable patient group. Architype was commissioned by Herefordshire and Worcestershire Health and Care Trust to develop a retrofit feasibility report, taking an EnerPHit-informed, fabric-first approach modelled in the Passivhaus Planning Package (PHPP) to address both energy inefficiency and comfort deficiencies holistically.

The form and fabric of the building are designed to be extremely air tight, with low U valves, high mass to the repositories, with maximised beneficial solar gain. The spaces are well daylit, and the lighting and controls are designed to work with occupation and daylight profiles. Ventilation is provided by high efficiency heat recovery air handling units, and the repositories have minimal mechanical intervention. The systems are controlled via a BMS, written to allow the users simple and effective control and monitoring.

A Cross Laminated Timber frame forms the heart of the 10,625m2 school, one of the largest of its kind in the world.

The houses were designed in close consultation with the group and individuals; developed to enjoy the natural advantages of the site, with generous windows and natural light, changes in level, conservatories, balconies and verandahs.

At a time of climate emergency, the centre provides a blueprint for future office builds and easily achieves the RIBA 2030 operational energy target of 55 kWh/m2 with a net final energy consumption (regulated and unregulated) of 2.4kWh/m2, significantly lower than traditional office buildings.

For the Worcestershire Health and Care NHS Trust we used our EnerPHit Informed Retrofit Plan (EiRP) methodology to develop a fabric-first strategy addressing a key building's fundamental performance failures, with data rigorously modelled in PHPP.

Embodied carbon, at 405 kgCO2e/m2 over 60 years is half the typical carbon impact of a new-build school building. Life cycle carbon studies informed the palette, favouring renewable, non-toxic components with low embodied carbon.

Our extensive consultation process aimed to create a cycle of awareness, involvement and ownership amongst the membership, and actively involved all 6000 SGI members, alongside bodies such as English Heritage and the Garden History Society.

We worked with BD | Landscape who provided a hard working, three dimensional landscape on the urban site. They explain:

Alleyn's School have ambitions to achieve net zero, and Architype are helping the school to put this into practice.

To ensure the long-term preservation of the collections it was critical that the environmental conditions of the building remained very stable and well within the optimal tolerances for temperature and humidity.

The centre of excellence aims to transform energy production and distribution, and support the UK’s transition to a low carbon society, establishing Cumnock as an exemplar low carbon town.

The material palette evokes the site’s symbiosis between science and nature. Copper, a conductive metal, clads the sports and assembly halls to spark engagement and inspire young minds. Timber is used generously, from the strong engineered CLT frame to the warm oak that clads the exterior of the teaching spaces.

The design team significantly increased value to the project by reconfiguring the previous proposed form to work more efficiently which maximised value and reduced costs. The Passivhaus Plus design, initially suggested to achieve the net zero ambitions, brings huge added value as a comfort and quality standard, at no extra cost.

Architype’s approach is to integrate sustainability from first principles, rather than add it later. We describe this as ‘Eco-minimalism’.

New innovative practices that restore biodiversity and increase agricultural productivity, while maintaining land health and building resilience in rural communities, will be developed in the Innovation Village.

Generous and well-controlled daylighting was an important consideration in the design process: bright, naturally-lit rooms help improve concentration and attainment in school environments, so our team worked hard to ensure this was applied throughout the school. This approach is particularly evident in the naturally lit timber sports hall.

Our approach prioritised reducing energy demand across the campus for realistic, long lasting and effective carbon reduction.

A new external landscape scheme is defined by a series of spaces articulated around a bold ‘river’ spine (a concept informed by the Norbury Brook which is culverted beneath the site), which ties together from north-east to south west.

The Passivhaus building means residents can enjoy a consistent and comfortable ambient temperature maintained with little or no heating or cooling.

The new school space presented an opportunity to celebrate the generous new room height in a creative way. We suggested a reading tower would best maximise this asset. We designed a central plywood sculpture to create a joyful space to read and store books which, together with the existing external timber stair core, adds a literary nod to Tolkein’s ‘Two Towers’.

Alongside this new feature we added additional reading nooks and views into the adjacent classrooms through triangular windows between the existing trusses. To minimise disruption the tower was manufactured off-site.

The school was designed from the outset to meet the Passivhaus energy standard, a quality standard that guarantees performance.

Architype’s experts guided the client, design and construction teams in their Passivhaus journeys.

Liberton Nursery, representative of the Council’s historic Victorian stock, was chosen as a flagship typology for deep retrofit and regeneration following Architype's estate-wide decarbonisation strategy for the City of Edinburgh Council (CEC) in 2021.

The brief provided by Natural Resources Wales (formerly FCW) requested that the building should be a showcase for Welsh timber and timber products, using an innovative construction method and Wales' huge stock of low grade, fast growing softwood, Larch and Sitka Spruce.

As a user-centred service, co-workers and volunteers are very much involved in decision-making and service delivery. Co-workers are supported to set goals towards their own recovery, and attend sessions in therapeutic horticulture or arts & crafts, usually weekly for up to 18 months. The centre links co-workers with other activities in the wider community, including employment, volunteering, and new hobbies. Outcomes include improved mental and/or physical health, reduced social isolation, and increased confidence.

The new building treads lightly on the site. Natural swales form part of the urban drainage strategy, with careful consideration given to the land’s wetland status, including permeable paving for water run-off.

Architype’s consultation process included presentations of the proposed design at morning assemblies, and activity workshops involving children from all years.

The rigorous methodology of Passivhaus Plus enables exceptional performance alongside zero carbon technologies which lower operational carbon to below zero.

Building orientation, extensive insulation, as well as a MVHR (Mechanical Ventilation and Heat Recovery) will all dramatically reduce the energy required to create a comfortable building.

The Passivhaus design approach optimises solar gains and significantly reduces the energy required to create a comfortable building.

Passivhaus Planning Package (PHPP) analysis was used to demonstrate that overall carbon emissions from the building will be cut by more than 80% over the next 100 years.

A collaborative client and project team was key to the successful delivery of the UK's first Passivhaus secondary school.

Architype undertook a design study at The Enterprise Centre to establish the optimal level of shading to optimise internal comfort.

An integrated water system collects both rainwater and greywater from washbasins.

The school’s performance at completion is exactly as predicted at design stage, with no performance gap from design to construction stage – unlike the poor industry average of a 40% gap.

The centre offers a warm welcome and a light, healthy and well-ventilated environment for up to 125 business and entrepreneurial tenants, encouraging sociability and connections. The ground floor space, with sofas and a café, is open to anyone passing by the office creating a vibrant hub.

St Luke’s is a great example of a well-executed primary school that has had good performance outcomes and offers valuable learning for the delivery team.

Our relationship with the Gower School in Islington spans two decades and various phases of improvement. Our sustained, trusted partnership has delivered transformational change, working toward a shared vision aligned with budget and Montessori learning philosophy.

The early stages of the DQI process were fundamental in establishing the client's priorities and aspirations for the new building and surrounding grounds.

Soft Landings was adopted at the Enterprise Centre to provide a graduated handover and the highest standard of building aftercare. A small dedicated Soft Landings budget was allocated that had a big impact - enabling the buildings performance to be fine-tuned after completion in a collaborative non-adversarial manner.

Retaining and strengthening the client and contractors relationships has been an important part of delivering a successful technical service.

For Plymouth Marjon University we are creating a zero carbon campus development plan to support an increase in student numbers by 50% as well as achieving net zero carbon by 2035.

An extensive green roof is integrated on the west wing of the main new building block and to the central link roof, with lightweight, drought tolerant and low maintenance planting.

A range of indoor space includes smaller scale rooms for one-to-one learning and children with specific needs such as autism, and specialist spaces for music and language. Architype’s flexible layouts with consistent levels of natural daylight throughout encourage the Montessori sense of freedom for self-directed learning and multiple activities happening simultaneously without fuss.

Following Exeter Council’s Design for Future Climate Change, Architype used Exeter University’s PROMETHEUS weather data to climate-proof the building to 2080, so it can adapt to changing climates such as rising temperatures and storms.

Scientific rigour, nature and healing motivated this ambitious new school in Sutton.

Native landscapes of shady woodland, marginal grasslands, and river edges which would once have inhabited this riverine area inspire the biodiverse landscape strategy developed by BD | Landscape

Built in 1870, Liberton Nursery was in need of an upgrade, achieving temperatures of just 13.2°C indoors — too cold for the children it was built to serve. Mounting maintenance costs and declining usability threatened the future of this cherished community asset.

Architype undertook a decarbonisation study in 2023 with the purpose of developing a ‘Net Zero Masterplan (2023-2030)’ to steer the British Antarctic Survey (BAS) in achieving its goal of Net Zero for their Cambridge site.

Localised future climate data was generated for the project by the University of East Anglia Climate Team to help identify the most robust design solution over an 87 year period.

The new school is one of the first developments in the Scottish Futures Trust’s (SFT) Learning Estate Improvement Programme.

Harris Academy Sutton forms the gateway to the London Cancer Hub, a site of world-leading scientific research. Commissioned to provide much-needed education space for the borough’s growing population, Sutton Council required enhanced sustainability from the new building, in line with its strong environmental goals.

The design balances conviviality with privacy. Residents can observe activity in communal areas from their own apartment before committing to socialising, reducing the physical and cognitive demands of social participation.

35% of the materials are bio-based using non-toxic materials to enhance health and wellbeing.

Modern methods of construction were used to achieve quicker assembly on site. This included the timber frame walls and floor which were prefabricated at a local factory and brought to site as cassettes. This saved time and also meant less timber was wasted.

At 12 Church Grove, the design was developed through co-design workshops with the residents group.

Architype's approach is to discover, through consultation, the character and personality of an organisation and to then explore through a conceptual design approach ways of expressing this.

For Royal Agricultural University’s Innovation Village, a layered materials strategy embraces ‘form follows availability’ and a stretch target for 100 per cent bio-based new materials.

The original green roof was a species-rich grassland home to a wide variety of flora and fauna.

During the retrofit, hoardings communicated 'this is not an ordinary project, but it needs to be'. In order to respond to the climate emergency, trailblazing projects like Entopia need to become the norm.

Architype undertook forensic analysis of the energy and daylighting benefits of replacing the 97 mock Georgian windows to overcome the planning challenges.

Architype designed a 'wind catcher' that captures the air from the hill naturally and delivers it into the building through a 90 m long underground concrete 'earth pipe'.

Architype was founded by Bob Hayes and Jon Broome who had both worked with Walter Segal across projects in Lewisham such as Walter's Way and Segal Close.

The team worked hard to source local materials where possible to reduce transport costs, embodied carbon, and support the local economy.

Design elements address the needs of residents with dementia.

The demonstration Segal self-build house at CAT was an opportunity to test how a Segal self-build house could incorporate energy saving measures.

Natural materials including timber and copper act as structural and decorative touches on the impressive 10,625m2 space, evoking its leafy suburban setting.

The single storey box form complements the existing historic buildings on the site at IWM Duxford, and at the same time has an efficient form factor in line with Passivhaus design principles.

The Brettstapel system is a great example of the innovative low-carbon approach to design and construction adopted on the project. Brettstapel maximises the performance of low-grade softwood components allowing them to be used structurally whilst providing a natural, toxin-free interior that complements the interal air quality.

This is the first new build co-housing scheme in the UK and was designed with the full participation of the residents achieving a sense of community that is absent from much UK housing.

A radical and innovative construction system was developed for the building, enabling a fast construction time to be achieved, and allowing the structure to be potentially disassembled and reassembled in future.

The building takes the form of two simple and distinct masses, a windowless three-storey cedar-clad concrete box for the archive and records repository over three storeys, and a timber framed building for the other functions. These two blocks are separated by a ‘buffer zone’ in the form of a linear atrium which provides thermal buffering for the store and stack ventilation for the subsidiary spaces.

The building gained a BREEAM innovation credit through the contractor ISG who re-used 350 light fittings from another building refurbishment.

St Michael's Hospice demonstates a fresh approach to palliative care, with a deep connection to nature to create a unique warm, non-clinical environment.

The majority of the building is made from timber or cellulose – with a timber glulam frame of beams and columns, supporting floors of timber I-joists and walls of studwork.

Maybury strives to provide a place that serves the greater community and creates long term value while supporting the needs of all learners and learning styles

The project has developed a new housing typology, based on the principles of co-housing. The landscape strategy is pedestrian and child friendly, with cars kept to one edge and outdoor space that is shared and communal, with no private gardens.

The form and fabric of the building are designed to be extremely air tight, with low U valves, high mass to the repositories, with maximised beneficial solar gain. The spaces are well daylit, and the lighting and controls are designed to work with occupation and daylight profiles. Ventilation is provided by high efficiency heat recovery air handling units, and the repositories have minimal mechanical intervention. The systems are controlled via a BMS, written to allow the users simple and effective control and monitoring.

A high-quality wooden reception desk with a stone surface recovered from the headquarters of Netflix was re-shaped and repaired to fit the new entrance space.

Diggers was initiated by a group of families and individuals in Brighton who came together with a common purpose - to self-build for rent, as an affordable way of providing their own permanent homes.

We chose to retain Ingleholme as it had historically formed the corner of Bishopswood Road and Hampstead Lane and is one of the few remaining original Victorian villas. We wanted Inglehome to inform the new rhythm of the street, influencing the elevation treatment of the new building.

The most significant outcome established that there was a remarkable sense of environmental and resident satisfaction, which can be attributed to the residents being part of the design and delivery of their own homes and having ownership over their design and construction. Their awareness of the buildings' strengths and weaknesses meant they were more forgiving of shortcomings and acted more responsibly and sympathetically in operating their homes.

The cob (earth and straw) block wall (U = 0.23W/m 2K with external insulation) uses earth from within 10 miles. Blocks are hairy (which is good for keying plaster), part left exposed for demonstration, part finished with an earth plaster reinforced with llama hair, with a polished wax finish.

Architype introduced the idea of a Design Menu to the residents group as a live document to record all ideas raised and group decisions made (relating to design) through the co-design process.

Mechanical ventilation heat recovery (MVHR) units were used to bring in a constant supply of fresh filtered air.

A Passivhaus strategy offered IWM an opportunity to use a low energy method that guaranteed stable environmental conditions for significantly lower running costs.

This was the first building in the country to employ a 'breathing' wall construction incorporating Warmcell insulation - recycled and borax treated newspaper in walls, floors, and roof.

Cross-laminated timber (CLT) is used for the superstructure of the school, with glulam beams and columns, wall and slab elements manufactured offsite. The exposed soffits help pupils understand how their school is put together.

The majority of the building is made from timber or cellulose – with a timber glulam frame of beams and columns, supporting floors of timber I-joists and walls of studwork.

The building aligns with the Building Biology Association’s 25 Guiding Principles of Building Biology for a healthy, beautiful and sustainable building in an ecologically sound and socially connected community.

Customisation was a regular theme through the co-design process, and we discussed options for internal and external customisation.

Based on 10 principles for wellness, from air quality to thermal comfort to acoustics, the updated WELL v2 standard contains very detailed criteria that looks in forensic detail at what it takes to create a healthy workplace.

The building was originally modelled to maintain a minimum winter temperature of 13 degrees, but as the design progressed the brief evolved to require the internal temperature to be a low as possible without requiring active cooling. The result is a ‘free running building’ with no heating or cooling.

Participation and choice was a key element of both Architype’s and Digger’s approach to the design process.

The Willows demanded the need to design in consultation (not committee) to bring together two schools (a mainstream primary and a special education needs school for pupils suffering from PMLD, SLD and ASD) into one facility.

The clay pavilion is constructed from Cellular fired clay blocks - Ziegel blocks from Germany (U = 0.31W/m 2K) which are precise enough to be laid thin-bed and have no mortar in the perpends, though there is some mechanical interlock.

Leftover furniture in the existing building was diverted from landfill, avoiding wastage of 21,000kg of CO2, with 21,600kg of chairs, tables and storage cabinets donated to local communities.

The residents of Springhill became equal directors of the company undertaking the development, and remain as directors of the company owning the freehold of the site. They each individually own the leasehold of their house or flat.