Convertible Changes that have Occurred

One convertible aspect was made possible by the fact that the architects added an extra floor of offices where the plant room once was. Due to this additional space being made into office space, it gave the ability to create a roof terrace next to it. The architects feel that this is now a key selling point and feature of the building, as outdoor space in London is at a premium. This convertible

175 9.7.8. Scalable Changes that have Occurred

The building has gone through a large change in terms of scalability, some of the extended elements are listed below, these are taken from the buildings technical pack:

• East face extension – new curved extension to east face extending between 6.0m and 11.5m from the existing facade and new double height entrance.

• New atrium courtyard structure – infill of existing open courtyard with a new six storey R.C.

framed structure on piled foundations.

• South extension and south west corner infill – new extension to the south and south west facades supported off the existing edge beam and new columns and pile foundations.

• New ETFE roof over courtyard – new R.C. framed roof structure supporting ETFE roof.

• NE corner first floor infill – Lightweight decking system supported off existing structure to create new floor slab.

• Ground floor slab – Alterations and extension to the existing ground floor slabs.

Despite the retention of the original frame, there have still been a number of scalable changes when adapting the building. This could suggest that although the original frame was kept for reasons explore in section 9.3.1, it required the architect to come up with a solution that enabled this, rather than just reusing and refurbishing the original frame. It could be suggested that lessons learnt from the adaption of an existing building could inform architects about how to design in the future to reduce the complications in adaption of their buildings.

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Refittable Additional cycling spaces have been added.

There has been a full refit of services within the building.

There is a request for an easier opening front door.

Convertible Retail units have been added to the ground floor. architect, and finally the changes that have happened within the building. It shows a building that has been completely adapted from an office building that had come to the end of its useable life, to the modern office building it is today. As well as having to adapt an older building, the architects have also put thought into how it may last in the future, with the use of their white collar factory principles. The architect is very keen to learn from the building, but has not as of yet done anything formal. They do however, spend a lot of time in the building and have watched it evolve from the completed building they handed over. Understanding how to best disseminate information about

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model, as they feel it allows them to charge less money for the space, which in turn improves the percentage of their space rented.

 The architects brief was to create and aesthetically pleasing building that was flexible enough to allow potential investors to create their own type of office space.

 The charity signed a pre tenancy agreement, before the building was complete. This allowed them to customise their space.

 The architects feel that their repeat work with the Angel developers has allowed them to learn about the buildings they have built together.

 The developers and the architects have worked together to create the WCF principles, this has come from directly working together for a number of years.

 Some of the WCF principles are slightly contradictory, it is not possible to naturally vent buildings that are built to have deep plans. Both natural ventilation and deep plans are main principles of the WCF. The developers acknowledges this and explains that it, “is slightly contradictory to have the deep plan and natural ventilation but I think we have kind of taken the view that completely natural ventilation, at the moment is a big call” (Angel PM). They do also suggest that, “the reason you can get away with the deep plan is because the floor ceiling heights are so high so you can get lots of light to the middle of it” (Angel PM).

However, this still does not allow for natural ventilation.

 There is also a feeling between the users that this building may be too complicated, which again contradicts the WCF principles, it may be found that some of these complicated systems do not last as long as the structure itself as the users are already complaining about them.

 The architects value sustainability and learning, they are also very keen on the idea of visual feedback, and have seen it work in the past.

 The architects have invested in a number of feedback mechanisms including BUS, POE and Blogs. But have suggested that it is sometimes difficult as there is little money to pay for the feedback.

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material in support of the themes discussed. It also refers back to key literature to discuss the contribution to theory of the key themes that have emerged. Figure 10.1 provides an overview of the cross-case analysis presented in this chapter.

Case: 1 Nottingham

Figure 10.1: An overview of the cross case analysis

The chapter first outlines the main themes identified from data. This is then followed by a detailed cross-case analysis of the key issues under the main themes, in order to develop synthesised findings. A summary of these findings from the case studies and implications of the findings for the developed analytical framework are then discussed at the end of each thematic section. The chapter concludes by detailing the proposed conceptual feedback framework mechanism, which is built up to a generalised theory and a set of recommendations.

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c) The architects role – the role the architect takes on design projects d) How architects learn – how the architect currently learns in practice 2) Designing in adaptability

a) Changes occurred – the changes that have occurred within the buildings b) Changes desired – the changes that are desired within the building c) Designed adaptability – the designed adaptability strategy of the building

d) Adaptability Issues – the issues that might affect the adaptability of the building.

3) Feedback management

a) Feedback methods currently used – the feedback methods currently used by the architects b) Barriers to feedback – the barriers to feedback within the practices

c) The appropriate delivery of information to architects – the way information should be fed back to an architect for informing future adaptable design decisions

d) Communication links – the post occupancy communication links within each project.