Sustainable Workspaces at County Hall offered a unique opportunity to adapt a landmark historical building into an inspiring new home for a community of emerging climate tech businesses. Adopting a low impact design philosophy focused on minimising embodied energy, the design is a test ground for innovative materials and techniques that show an alternative path for workspace retrofit.

Starting from a celebration of the ‘as found’ condition of a listed building, the project retains and reuses as much of the existing finishes and fittings as possible. Interventions that provide private offices and shared amenities were then added with full life-cycle considerations - including modular partition wall systems developed by U-build as part of an on-going project with the client. Further elements were constructed with materials sourced from waste streams, natural plant forms and unwanted industrial by-products, while items of furniture and fittings were sourced from re-claimed supplies. The scheme not only dramatically reduced the amount of embodied carbon, by 1,150 tonnes in comparison to a typical benchmark scheme*, but also points towards a new aesthetic and material language reflecting the demands of the climate emergency.

The design decisions realised a dramatic reduction in embodied carbon when compared with a typical office fit-out. Material Works have undertaken a carbon calculation for the works which show a total saving of 1,150 tonnes of Carbon in comparison to a typical office fit-out.*

The design was developed alongside five guiding principles -

• Light touch retrofit
• Adaptable / reusable interventions
• Reclaimed furniture and fittings
• Low carbon materials
• Natural materials and processes