This is a highly anticipated new home for CABI, who, for the past 33 years have been located in what was Carmel College, a school built in the 60s in Oxfordshire. The old building required a high level of maintenance, in comparison to CABI’s new, energy-efficient, purpose-built HQ in Wallingford.
At the heart of this project is CABI’s commitment to encouraging biodiversity and protecting the environment. The design is highly energy efficient with detailed strategies for materials, orientation and structures. The design includes a careful selection of materials for the building fabric, which will reduce the energy consumption, to embrace the aim of low carbon use in operation.
Designing with passive sustainability as a priority, the building is positioned to minimise solar gains by orientating it East-West, and will provide shade in the summer and allow sunlight in the winter.
Completing in 2020 means that the HQ foreshadowed the shift in priorities for office space users who, due to Covid-19, have placed increased importance on clean air. Natural ventilation was a key design factor, and was achieved by a perforated façade, which permits cool air into the building throughout day and night. It then rises up and is collected at the top. Heat recovery ventilation is used in the winter to pre-warm fresh air, which is then pumped into the floors.
A traffic light system alerts users when the building gets too hot or doesn’t have enough fresh air. It will prompt occupants to open their windows and increase the levels of fresh air in the building. It is designed to rely on communication and cooperation between the building and its users, rather than being heavily M&E driven, providing a natural, healthy and safe environment.
E. Hayden, DirectorSituated in an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty, the building responds to its surroundings with a living roof, which will attract insects and birds and enhance biodiversity. Inside, it hosts up to 180 members of staff, a long way from its origins as a small research committee established in 1910. Staff and visitors are provided with a range of amenities including a café restaurant, meeting rooms and conference room/auditorium.