SEISMIC - school design app

Jaimie Johnston MBE.

Ultimately, we suspect that over time buildings will become flexible configurations of components, rather than large, fixed assets.We may end up creating loose-fit superstructures.

The superstructure contains the majority of the embodied carbon in a building.We could design these for a 100-year total life span, while the use of standardised components would make an interior refit possible every five to ten years.In its initial configuration a building might function as an office block, but components could be taken out and the building changed into a residential building or school.

At the end of its life, the various standardised components would be recycled, reused or redeployed, creating a circular economy.As the Internet of Things evolves and built assets become smarter, gathering increasing amounts of data, they could become self-optimising, intelligent buildings – recognising the need for a change in air or lighting levels.

Ultimately, this type of data would then feed back into the design process itself, creating an open-ended process of continual improvement, and contributing to the next generation of components.. Our sustainable future.

Of course, the most pressing, current question is: how do we make a planet which sustainably supports 11.5 billion people?Most residential developers have a pattern book of apartments, which are best suited for their needs.

They don’t want to design from scratch each time.Standardisation makes future maintenance easier.

Where clients want the variability and flexibility is in the massing of the building, the articulation of the material choice and facade design.. We worked very hard with clients in the early stages to make sure that the construction Platforms we developed have enough variability in the areas which will facilitate maximum benefit.We want to have a Design to Value process which achieves exactly what is desired..