In October 2021, Cullinan Studio received Building Design’s Sustainability Architect of the Year Award, which recognises a consistent body of work, rather than one-off projects. Cullinan Studio are a key partner in the GreenSCIES project.
Cullinan Studio is organised to address society’s urgent needs where we can make the most impact. The projects we included in our submission exemplify our approach to sustainable architecture and ethical business, which is based around five themes:
Alder Hey Entrance Lobby © Cullinan Studio
Connecting to nature
Our relationship with nature is fundamental to our survival. Our two buildings for the Alder Hey Children’s Hospital, The Catkin Centre and Sunflower House, epitomise this quest through placing healing gardens at their heart and creating a new park for the hospital and Liverpool.
Bunhill Energy Centre in Islington
Empowering communities
Engagement with local communities and end users was key to the success of all these projects. Our pioneering GreenSCIES is being co-designed with Islington residents toward 2030 net zero and creating design codes for local energy centres that can be replicated nationally. We are measuring social value as part of the research. Bunhill 2 Energy Centre celebrates this new green community infrastructure through decorative façades and integrated art.
Healthy buildings
All these projects are designed with natural materials, daylight, views, and fresh air. Our National Automotive Innovation Centre and The Catkin Centre demonstrate our skills in low-carbon, timber structural design. The Catkin Centre supports healing through its therapeutic layout, using biophilic design patterns, for example to create refuge spaces with views to nature.
Image: National Automotive Innovation Centre © Hufton+Crow
Circular economy
We use resources wisely, including energy. Bunhill 2 and GreenSCIES re-use wasted heat from the London Underground, data centres, and offices, to heat local homes, schools, and public buildings. We have measured operational and embodied carbon to inform decisions and advance knowledge on all these projects.
Future of mobility
The National Automotive Innovation Centre integrates research across disciplines and company IP thresholds to empower the future of low carbon transport that will transform our cities. GreenSCIES will be a Smart Local Energy System including energy storage for electric vehicle charging combined with cycling and walking routes.
Each project has been carefully composed to fit its context and to use materials simply and elegantly while taking care to consider whole-life embodied carbon and reduced toxicity.
A new bench and planter have been unveiled outside Finsbury Library telling the story of the pioneering GreenSCIES project that will help deliver a more environmentally-friendly, cost-effective way of heating homes in Islington.
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GreenSCIES has published a freely downloadable policy paper that will steer the future of Smart Local Energy Systems, reviewing current policies and identifying opportunities and constraints.
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Join us at the free SIRACH technical meeting in Glasgow on 20 June 2022, with the theme of Secondary Waste Heat Opportunities, featuring a tour of the Queens Quay energy centre.
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