Hanham Hall Hospital |
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Interim Client & Design Award
Project Team:
Client: Homes
and Communities Agency and Barratt
Developments PLC
Design: HTA
Architects, ARUP
engineers and Phoenix
Design Partnership
The Project:
Hanham Hall Hospital, Whittucks Road, Hanham, South Gloucestershire, BS15 3QA
Barratt Developments Plc
Supported by E.ON, Sovereign Housing Group, Kingspan Offsite, ARUP and HTA
The site is the first in the government’s Carbon Challenge initiative and is scheduled to become one of the first zero carbon communities in England. As part of the comprehensive Carbon Challenge Brief, the development is required to achieve a CEEQUAL Very Good rating for infrastructure components as well as Code for Sustainable Homes Level 6 and BREEAM Excellent ratings for building elements.
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Hanham Hall is a 6.6 hectare former hospital site in South Gloucestershire near Bristol. It incorporates a Grade II* listed building, Hanham Hall. The site abuts green belt to the east and there are important views across the northern edge of the site to Hanham Hill, which will be preserved.
Under the proposals the Hall will be restored and will become the centrepiece of the community. It will become a commercial hub containing community and flexible office space. It will also contain a crèche, a café and farm shop that could sell produce grown in the grounds.
The development consists of 195 homes ranging from sheltered accommodation, through one-bedroom apartments up to 5 bedroom family homes. At least a third of the homes will be affordable. The homes will be constructed using the Kingspan Offsite TEK insulated SIPs, with mechanical ventilation and heat recovery technology to create super insulated homes. The homes will have greatly reduced water usage by recycling the rainwater run off from roofs and installing low flow appliances throughout.
The community will benefit from outstanding natural and man made infrastructure. The green infrastructure will include waterways, orchards, allotments and gardens that enhance the ecology of the site. The site benefits from a location close to the existing town centre, linked by public transport and with easy access to the road and cycle network. Heat and power will be generated on site and all residents will be provided with up to the minute communications technology, via a central hub providing multimedia facilities and wireless connections anywhere within the site. These initiatives are a major contributor to the CEEQUAL Excellent score achieved at Interim stage.
Green Infrastructure
Natural infrastructure is a significant feature of the development proposals. With the Hanham Hall site having such a rich existing landscape, the scheme has worked to incorporate and preserve as much of the existing fabric as possible, adding features that enhance what is already within the grounds. This provides a naturalized framework for the development and increases the overall ecological value of the site.
Extensive tree surveys have categorized all significant trees
within the site and identified those worthy of retention.
The scheme masterplan has been informed by this information
and minimizes loss of any mature/distinctive planting elements.
The former formal garden to the front of Hanham Hall is a
key historical feature that is being reinstated for shared
public use, along with some smaller, more intimate spaces,
such as allotment gardens, an orchard, apiary and greenhouses
that will be maintained by the site residents. The aim is
to encourage residents to grow as much of their own produce
as possible to reduce occupants carbon footprint.
Meadows to the south of the development are organized around existing retained and enhanced hedgerows and will become the gateway to the surrounding countryside.
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The masterplan includes a necklace of streams and ponds that run through the site creating a comprehensive network of attenuation basins and swales that provide both a naturalized drainage solution and new habitat. This strategy will reduce the water run off from the site to 50% of that of a green field, therefore reducing the burden on the local drainage system.
Energy
At the heart of the scheme energy infrastructre is the inclusion
of a biomass Combined Heat and Power plant. The scheme does
not provide any micro generation technology in the dwellings,
since the wood chip fuelled CHP plant will deliver carbon
neutral electricity and heat for all the homes and commercial
spaces as well as possibly providing heat to neighboring buildings.
The CHP plant has been sized specifically for the demand of
the residents on this project but the technologies within
the dwellings and the improvements to Hanham Hall’s
energy performance means that demand for energy has been kept
to a minimum. The heat from the CHP will be provided directly
into hot water cylinders in the homes through an underground
heat network, which will provide constant hot water.
The CHP plant will connect back into the National grid, allowing
the export of surplus carbon neutral electricity and this
connection, along with the back up gas boilers, will enable
supplies to continue when the equipment onsite is being maintained.
Additional funding has also been gained to provide a heating
connection to the local school, meaning that the scheme will
provide wider sustainability benefits to the community and
reduce carbon footprints offsite.
Many of the homes will be fully monitored to continue research
into their energy use and how it can be improved.
Materials
Materials specification and use is a core element of the Carbon Challenge Brief. Requirements include use of materials specified A-C in the BRE Green Guide, assessment of the health implications of materials used, reusability of materials specified and supply chain policies. Existing dilapidated and prefabricated buildings located on site are being carefully deconstructed and materials retained for reuse on site wherever possible e.g. as fill materials. A comprehensive site waste management plan is in place to control and monitor this process and an ambitious 95% reuse of demolition and construction waste target has been set for the scheme.
Development Trust
A not for profit Development Trust is proposed to manage
the whole site including the commercial space resulting in
strong long term stewardship and cohesion for the development
to create a true community at Hanham Hall.
The Trust will be responsible for inducting people into the
community and demonstrate how their new homes work and how
living a carbon neutral lifestyle can differ from their old
homes.
Sovereign Housing Group will be assisting in the delivery of the affordable housing for this development and they will provide the backbone for the trust, which will utilise their expertise in this area.
The trust will be made up of the new residents, the businesses, Sovereign, Homes and Communities Agency and South Gloucestershire Council, making this a truly community owned development.
Website
For further Information
Dan Bridgett, Head of External Affairs, Barratt Group, Tel: 020 7299 4873, E-mail: [email protected]