RIBA Award for Sustainable Design
The project looks to bring a redefined, sustainable and community focused industry back to Bristol’s Floating Harbour through a Retrofit Hub, which breaks the existing negative cycle retrofit finds itself in. The centre looks to connect and teach local builders, industry leaders and homeowners through a series of education, exhibition, and community spaces. This interwoven network encourages formal and informal knowledge sharing, supporting the delivery of retrofit at scale.
At the heart of this scheme is a working yard focused on training local tradespeople in innovative retrofit techniques. This active courtyard is integrated into the proposal and surrounding infrastructure by a rail system, which features the movement of materials and guides users through the building. This central animated core revitalises the historic wharf ruins and 9m tall stone boundary wall, weaving the past and present together to showcase the future of low-carbon construction.
The building itself is a crafted, lifetime carbon-negative, intuitive educational tool. Journeys through the building highlight exposed elements championing innovation, adaptive reuse and timber construction.
Three prominent chimneys define the project visually, structurally and environmentally. They enable natural ventilation through a cross-stack effect, purge ventilation, and anchor large ridge beams crucial to the exposed glulam superstructure.
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