Month: March 2022

This Toronto Building Is a Model for a Post-Pandemic Office

It’s small, wood, local, efficient, and it has the best bike room in town.

By: Lloyd Alter
View the original article here

Exterior in the evening of the building. Leaside Innovation Centre

The future of the office post-pandemic has been a subject of many posts in the last few years. I have written that we will be living in a hybrid world, with “one foot in the real world, one foot in the virtual, and everything will be flexible and adaptable.” I have suggested that we will see the return of the satellite office in the 15-minute city, in a new hub-and-spoke world. Oh, and the new office buildings will be made from low-carbon materials and nobody is going to want to work in a building without seriously good ventilation.

That’s why I was so intrigued by a new office building proposed for Leaside, in a former industrial area of Toronto that first transitioned to big box stores but now appears to be evolving again. The Leaside Innovation Centre (LIC) is being developed by Charles Goldsmith, designed by Greg Latimer of Studio CANOO, and engineered by David Moses, who is known for his expertise in mass timber construction.

The LIC is a five-minute walk to a new transit line and is surrounded by very expensive homes in desirable residential areas. Basically, it’s what could be ground zero in a Leaside 15-minute city, and may well attract tenants and buyers from the immediate area.

Leaside Innovation Centre

Like many new office buildings, it is built of mass timber. On their website, they list the benefits:

“Mass timber structure is the contemporary equivalent of the beloved industrial warehouse structures that have populated the downtown core for well over a century and are now being repurposed for housing and office space to meet the needs of the 21st century. The mass timber structure (comprised of Cross-Laminated Timber (CLT) floor plates and glulam beams and columns) is substantially lower in its carbon footprint than steel or concrete. The harvesting of renewable forest products to fabricate CLT captures atmospheric carbon helping to mitigate the impact of climate change by storing the embodied carbon in the finished product. In addition, the CLT structure weighs approximately 25% less than a comparable concrete structure reducing the load on the foundation and allowing for reduced concrete use in the foundations.”

Leaside Innovation Centre

What Is CLT?

It’s an acronym for Cross-Laminated Timber, a form of Mass Timber developed in Austria in the 1990s. It’s made of several layers of solid dimension lumber such as 2X4s laid flat and glued together in layers in alternating directions.

CLT can work as a two-way slab, and when you have beams it can often be less expensive to use Nail-Laminated Timber (NLT)—learn about the different LTs here—but Latimer of Studio CANOO tells Treehugger they wanted longer spans matching those in the parking garage for maximum material efficiency. They are also getting their CLT from Element 5, the new supplier in St. Thomas, Ontario (on Treehugger here). Latimer tells Treehugger the finish on their CLT is far better than you can get from NLT or from other suppliers.

There’s still lots of glass! Leaside Innovation Centre

Many office buildings are clad in floor-to-ceiling glass, including mass timber structures where the developers want to show off the beauty of the wood. Unusually, the Leaside Innovation Centre is clad in prefabricated thin brick panels with only a 40% glass-to-wall ratio. They note this allows for much more insulation, reducing the size of the mechanical systems. Latimer tells Treehugger they are looking at triple-glazing the windows as well, but he also notes that it is much easier to furnish the building when the walls are not all glass, and you get much more efficient office layouts.

Building science expert Monte Paulsen has discussed this many times: all-glass buildings are not sustainable even if they are made of wood. In our coverage of the building that Paulsen is criticizing I mentioned those in passing, but it should be taken far more seriously. It is good to see that Latimer and Studio CANOO are doing exactly that.

In my now-archived review of Joseph Allen’s book “Healthy Buildings,” I noted that after the pandemic, tenants and buyers will have lots of options and will be demanding more fresh air, more filters, more air changes.

“The dramatic drop in the demand side of the office market means that tenants will get to be picky, and they are going to go for the buildings that have the best ventilation; developers will be competing to offer the most and cleanest fresh air, the biggest heat recovery ventilators (so that you get lots of air without lots of heating and cooling costs). Any office building that doesn’t offer this stuff is going to be a see-through (a building with no tenants where you can look in one side and see right through to the other) in short order.”

The LIC is doing exactly that: “Mechanical ventilation air supply will be treated with Ultraviolet Germicidal Irradiation (UVGI) and MERV 13 filters to improve indoor air quality, and minimize the amount of airborne contaminants, germs, bacteria and viruses entering the building.”

Latimer explains that the UVGI “explodes the RNA of the virus” and that the system is the same as being done in the fanciest buildings by engineers like ARUP.

Ground Floor Plan. Leaside Innovation Centre

Latimer also tells Treehugger the building is designed with active transportation in mind: There is currently parking for 30 bicycles and it is not stuck down the ramp in the parking garage, but conveniently sits on the ground floor space smack beside the main entrance, along with two showers. That’s very impressive. When I asked if 30 bikes were enough, Latimer noted they are looking at stacking systems to get in more.

Leaside Innovation Centre

It is a tribute to the success of the mass timber industry that small buildings are getting almost too common to cover anymore. As Monte Paulsen demonstrates, people are also getting a lot more critical. It’s like judging the freestyle skiing and snowboarding at the Olympics; you’ve got to really perform, and you have to have more than one trick.

The Leaside Innovation Centre has lots of moves that make it interesting, not just the relatively locally sourced mass timber but the location, the mechanical systems, the cladding, and yes, the bike room. If people are going to get dragged back to the office, this is where they will want to go—close to home, lots of light and fresh well-filtered air, a little biophilic goodness from all the wood, nice amenities, and a glorious bike locker.

It well may be the model of a speculative office project in the post-pandemic world.

Here Are 4 Sustainable Office Design Trends To Embrace In 2022

A growing number of firms are adopting bio-based building materials, making it one of 2022’s most prominent emerging design trends.

By: Kate Tattersfield
View the original article here

  • A growing number of developers, architects and interior designers are embracing sustainable alternatives in an effort to curb climate change. 
  • Reducing waste in the workspace design sector is a trending topic right now.
  • The built environment industry needs to look beyond operational efficiency and focus on decarbonising the materials used in its build and fit out processes.

The built environment is responsible for nearly 40% of global carbon emissions, according to research published by the Green Building Council. 

28% of this derive from operational emissions – the carbon omitted by powering, heating and cooling a building – while 11% is a by-product of embodied emissions which are produced through the extraction, transportation, manufacturing, and assembly of the materials used to build, fit out and furnish a building.

Fortunately for our planet and species, there’s an appetite for change, and a growing number of developers, architects and interior designers are embracing sustainable alternatives in an effort to curb climate change. 

The built environment garnered lots of attention at the COP26 summit in November 2021, with over 130 events dedicated to it.

During the summit 44 businesses, including leading architecture firms, signed a net zero carbon buildings commitment, pledging to take increased action to decarbonise the built environment across their portfolios and business activities.

The 2022 office design trends we’ve chosen to highlight are all sustainability-focused. Our list covers a range of office design aspects – from the construction materials used to how design elements are recycled. Check them out:

How are you planning to make your office more sustainable this year? Photo credit: RODNAE Productions

1. Bio-based design materials

Buildings  – from the homes we live in to the offices we work in – have the potential to become carbon sinks as opposed to carbon generators. 

But to limit global warming to 1.5C above pre-industrial levels, the built environment industry needs to look beyond operational efficiency and focus on decarbonising the materials used in its build and fit out processes.

One way to reduce embodied carbon is to manufacture using bio-based materials such as wood, straw and bamboo. Bio-based products typically require less energy and have the potential to capture and store carbon through photosynthesis. 

A growing number of firms are adopting bio-based building materials, making it one of 2022’s most prominent emerging design trends. 

In July 2021, Grosvenor Group, one of the world’s largest privately-owned international property businesses, launched Holbein Gardens, its first net zero carbon office development. 

The firm conducted an early whole life carbon assessment to minimise upfront embodied carbon. Grosvenor Group is trialling new low embodied carbon products including cross-laminated timber in the extension, CEMFREE Concrete, Thermalite aircrete blockwork and reclaimed raised access flooring. 

Redesigning an existing office building is often more eco-friendly than constructing one from scratch. However, it’s important to consider the environmental credentials of the procurement, installation and use of materials. 

For example, using wood in office design isn’t necessarily sustainable if a large amount of carbon dioxide is produced in the logging, transportation and manufacturing processes, and if it ends up in landfill when the occupier moves out instead of being recycled. 

Here’s a list of environmentally friendly building material options to explore and use this year, courtesy of the sustainable and biophilic design company, Barbulianno:

  • Cob
  • Recycled steel
  • Sheep’s wool
  • Reclaimed, recycled or sustainable wood 
  • Cork
  • Straw
  • Bamboo
  • Recycled plastic
  • AshCrete 
  • Ferrock
  • Hempcrete
  • Plant-Based Polyurethane Rigid Foam
  • Enviroboard 
  • Mycelium 
  • Clay brick 
  • Timbercrete 
  • Recycled Rubber
  • Newspaperwood 
An indicative view of Holbein Gardens’ eco-friendly communal roof garden. Photo credit: Holbein Gardens

2. 3D printed office accessories

3D printing involves the creation of a 3D object from a CAD or digital 3D model. It’s a very sustainable design method because it produces very little waste compared with objects manufactured using fabrics, metals and other materials. 

It also reduces supply chain carbon emissions. A study by Michigan Technological University discovered that 41-64% less energy was used to 3D print an object compared with manufacturing it overseas and shipping it to the US. 

3D printing is gaining traction quickly and the office design sector is getting on board. In 2021, the international furniture brand Bene, alongside designers Pearson Lloyd and 3D-print specialist Batch.Works, launched bFriends, a new collection of 3D printed desktop accessories using 100% recycled bioplastic from waste food packaging. 

The products can be recycled by Bene at the end of their life to form a “complete closed-loop production model”. 

Caption: The 3D printing process in action. Photo credit: Bene
Bene’s bFriends stands come in different sizes and are designed to hold stationery, notes, mobile phones and more. Photo credit: Bene

3. Biophilic design

It feels like biophilia’s been on the workspace design agenda for so long that it can’t justify being a trend anymore, but here us out. 

In previous years, discourse on biophilic design was primarily concerned with plants, but 2022 will see a sharper focus on multisensory biophilic design. This includes the use of natural light, natural soundscapes and pleasant scents from the natural world that many believe have the power to energise or invoke a sense of calm. 

Another aspect of biophilic design which is set to gain traction in 2022 is the use of circadian lighting. Like natural light, circadian lighting matches people’s natural biorhythms (or internal ‘clocks’) by creating an artificial ‘sunrise to sunset’ that passes through different illuminance levels and colour spectrums. 

Blue-spectrum light is prioritised during daylight hours and warmer tones are introduced when the body is gearing up or winding down, e.g. at the beginning and end of the working day.

Circadian lighting is intended to amplify comfort and productivity, creating a healthier workplace experience. It can also help us feel happier by bolstering our connection to the natural world in an age where we spend the majority (around 90%) of our time indoors in manufactured environments. 

According to the professional services firm, ARUP, “…the future of interior and exterior lighting design certainly lies in this balance of quality daylight and electric light working together to support our human circadian adaptation.”

Circadian lighting supports our internal ‘clock’ which helps boost wellbeing. Credit: Copernico Photo credit: Holbein Gardens

4. Circular economy 

We’ve already included an example of a circular economy in action (Bene), but there are many more examples besides. 

A circular economy is one that involves sharing, resuing, repairing, recycling and leasing existing materials and items. It’s the opposite of a linear economy, which follows a ‘take-make-dispose’ framework. 

Reducing waste in the workspace design sector is a trending topic right now. In fact, it was a focal point at last year’s Workspace Design Show. 

One way to reduce waste is to avoid design change. Waste in the fit out industry is created because of design change, and design change starts at the very early stages of any project, for instance when the client brief changes.

Office designers can also avoid waste by adopting a circular mindset from the outset and partnering up with circular-based suppliers and partners like 2ndhnd, a Scottish-based company that specialises in procuring, refurbishing and reselling office furniture.

The growing awareness of sustainability coupled with the challenges posed by the pandemic has led to an increase in demand for 2ndhnd’s products. In an interview with Insider, co-owner and manager Ross Dutton explained: 

“We’re being asked more and more often to strip offices of their existing office furniture, which will eventually be refurbished and resold via our platforms, but also to help in the reconfiguration of existing spaces as more flexible spaces are introduced such as breakout areas, sofas and catch-up pods.”