AWARDS | BUILDING PERFORMANCE CHAMPION HISTORIC SUCCESS The Engine Shed in Scotland was named Building Performance Champion because sustainability was embedded at every stage of the project, from the briefing workshop to building aftercare. Andy Pearson speaks to Max Fordham about the design process behind the exemplar scheme T his projects success comes from its use of a sustainability matrix, says Matt Thomas, principal engineer at Max Fordham. He is talking about The Engine Shed, Historic Environment Scotlands (HESs) new facility in Stirling. Here, Max Fordhams sustainability matrix was fundamental to establishing the projects sustainability targets, and critical to ensuring measures were implemented as the project progressed from concept, through design and installation, to handover and aftercare. The projects success in attaining and, in some cases, exceeding its sustainability objectives was one of the reasons for its success at this years CIBSE Building Performance Awards, where it won Project of the Year Public Use, and Building Performance Champion. The judges described the schemes approach to sustainability as exemplar. The Engine Shed was built in the 19th century to accommodate steam engines at the Forthside military ordnance depot, Stirling. After the demise of steam, the shed was used by the Ministry of Defence as a truckrepair workshop until the site was abandoned in 1976. The building remained empty until it was selected by HES as the new home for its conservation, outreach and science teams. HES wanted a facility in which to create a visitor attraction, and a space where the public could learn about, and engage with traditional buildings, and the skills and materials required to build, conserve and maintain them. Its plan was to use The Engine Shed as the centrepiece of the new facility by extending its floor plan with two new sheds one on its eastern flank and another on the west. The west shed would accommodate a reception desk, seminar rooms, offices and toilets, while the east shed would house a studio, equipment room, laboratory, kitchen, offices and the plantroom. A freestanding lecture theatre was also planned for the original part of the building. There were a number of sustainability initiatives that HES wanted to address with the restoration and extension of the facility, and it appointed Max Fordham as sustainability consultant for the project. To understand what was important to HES, a brief-setting workshop was hosted for the client, building users and key members of the design team. This enabled the consultancy to establish the key sustainability ambitions so that it could produce an initial sustainability matrix (see panel, The sustainability matrix). THE SUSTAINABILITY MATRIX The matrix included topics such as: energy management, thermal comfort, construction materials, waste, management and education, and provided indicative sustainability targets for these. Max Fordham followed up an initial workshop with a more detailed one, involving the design team, at which the projects sustainability targets were set. It invited HESs estates and sustainability teams to review the matrix to enable the design team to understand how operational measures would be implemented. The matrix was HES saying we want to be sustainable and this is what sustainability means to us, explains Thomas. It is deliverable, measurable and not an aspiration that will get squeezed out as the project progresses. In addition, because the design and construction teams were procured directly by HES, the client retained close control of the designs sustainability aspects. The matrix underpins all design, procurement, specification and construction decisions. It formed part of the M&E services design brief, and meant we had visibility at the start of the design of what HES wanted to achieve with the building, says Thomas. PROJECT TEAM Owner/client, project manager and quantity surveyor: Historic Environment Scotland Building services, sustainability, soft landings and acoustics consultant, and lighting designer: Max Fordham Architect: Reiach and Hall, and Historic Environment Scotland Main contractor: ESH Construction M&E contractor: Parker Technical Services Structural engineer: David Narro Associates 32 March 2020 www.cibsejournal.com CIBSE Mar20 pp32-36 Engine shed.indd 32 21/02/2020 14:52