Kings College is set for the next century!
With an impressive 100 years' design life, Stephen Taylor Court is the second Passivhaus project for King's College to be built in recent years, after the certified development at Cramner Road.
Video credit: Feilden Clegg Bradley Studios
Located away from the main college, in a residential conservation area, the College’s brief stipulated that the project should be designed to rigorous Passivhaus standards, be low carbon and have a 100-year design life. Architects Feilden Clegg Bradley Studios responded with a design which created 84 new homes for graduates, fellows and their families in an open courtyard within generous gardens.
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Design
The 4,300-square-metre scheme is located within a conservation area known for its arts and crafts houses, which influenced Feilden Clegg Bradley Studios' design.
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In response, the housing at Stephen Taylor Court is made up of three brick crescents surrounding a garden courtyard with an adjacent red brick villa. It is a contextual and contemporary development, responding to a specific need by the college to provide for its students.
.jpg "Stephen Taylor Court, Kings College Cambridge | Image credit: James Newton Photography")
Construction
The primary structure for all the buildings is cross-laminated timber (CLT), a low-carbon alternative to concrete, which was chosen for its lightweight property, airtightness of the structural envelope and the material's low embodied carbon. PHT Patron Max Fordham assisted in the development of the structural design, ensuring good airtightness and a buildable, high performance thermal envelope.
In addition to it's beneficial structural and environmental properties, as the scheme was located within a conservation area, the CLT structure allowed the development to be clad in water-struck gault bricks that give a similar appearance to traditional Cambridge bricks, complimenting the historic setting.
Building performance
During the early design stages, Feilden Clegg Bradley Studios used its own carbon tool named FCBS Carbon to help estimate and limit the whole-life carbon emissions of the scheme. FCBS Carbon is a spreadsheet that is free to use by other architects and considers all the CO2 produced by a building, including the building material, construction and demolition.
The tool calculated the builidngs net carbon performance – both operational and embodied – to be less than zero for the first 10 to 15 years of the project's life. Feilden Clegg Bradley Studios plans to continue to work with the college after completion to help maintain net-zero carbon beyond this calculation, by implementing renewable energy options such as photovoltaic panels.
Challenges
Particular site constraints meant several of the buildings have their principal façades facing east and west making effective solar shading difficult. PHT Patron Max Fordham carried out detailed daylighting modelling to advise on minimum glazing ratios that provide good daylight without risking summer comfort.
In addition to the daylighting constraints, the site is situated in a busy area and as such, was too noisy to rely on opening windows for natural ventilation. In response, an unusual strategy was developed that uses ground source heat pumps and a heat exchanger to provide extremely low-energy cooling in summer. The system provides efficient heating in winter, and domestic hot water generation.
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Join us
Discover further educational case studies adopting Passivhaus in our educational buildings campaign or join us as we showcase pioneering Scottish schools on day one of the 2023 UK Passivhaus Conference in Edinburgh. Be sure to register early for the site visits!
On the 16th and 17th October, we will be exploring the adaptability of Passivhaus, its implementation and benefits over a diverse range and scale of projects around the UK, and its potential applicability throughout Scotland! Be sure to register early for the site visits!
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Further information
Stephen Taylor Court, Kings College Cambridge - Feilden Clegg Bradley Studios
Passivhaus for Educational Buildings
Passivhaus Benefits Guide & costs research
Project Gallery: Cramner Road
23rd June 2020
Get involved with the UK Passivhaus community
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