Hotpoint's Comforting Crispy Chicken

The lack of quality homes has been a key topic of discussion for many years within the construction industry.

They’re not looking out into an industrial unit or to another wall… The atrium is very large.It’s open, it’s airy, so that provides light.

It’s quite a light feeling building.’.Wood confirms that by turning the upper floor, outpatient windows inward toward the courtyard, Bryden Wood were able to create ‘much better acoustic and views’ for those rooms.‘We made the building an experience that was unaffected by surroundings…major roads and other buildings that we had privacy issues with onsite.

We turned the section of the building, so it’s quite introspective…instead of looking out, or typically out, to the surrounding environment, which is compromised.’ Additionally, he comments that the removal of the ‘domesticity’ of these windows aids with providing the building’s external aesthetic that ‘higher, almost iconic value,’ it manages to achieve.. It’s all part of Circle’s larger focus on personal experience, which Highton also discusses with respect to the patient bedrooms.These he describes as being ‘of a very good size...not too big… So they’re not cold and very clinical,’ he says, before highlighting that because the patients all have their own individual rooms, ‘there is much more space.’ Each in-patient room also contains a couch able to double up as a bed for guests if they want it overnight.

It’s all been well considered, in other words, with practicality and comfort being the priorities..

This ongoing sense of space, light and comfort lend themselves to what is undeniably a positive hospital experience for staff, with the feeling manifesting in a variety of ways.. Sharon Matchey, Circle’s Admin Lead, works alongside Adam Chivers on the admin floor and comments on the department’s open plan structure, ‘If you’re having a bad day the team lift you,’ she says.Achieving net-zero carbon goals is critical, and future construction must be more digitally integrated and collaborative.When we talk about the sustainable design of buildings, we have two core objectives: reducing environmental impact, and providing a healthy space for occupants.

For this reason, implementing a sustainable design strategy incorporates every aspect of the building process, from the earliest design stages through to construction and post-completion.Evaluating an asset’s performance, and understanding how its entire environment operates, forms a key part of our work within Sustainability and Building Physics at Bryden Wood.

We look at how a building gains heat in summer, or loses it in winter; how it requires natural or artificial light; as well as issues like temperature control, moisture and air movement.Although some of the focus on this topic was lost in the last recession, the industry’s renewed commitment to sustainability in design is intensifying.