Nicoll Russell Studios

Nicoll Russell Studios are an architecture and interior design firm based in Broughty Ferry, on the outskirts of Dundee. They have had many successful projects, including The Dundee Rep Theatre, several Dundee University buildings, contemporary private homes, The Scottish Dance Theatre in Dundee and Dundee Sheriff Court, along with many other builds.

Garry Farquharson who is an architect for Nicoll Russell Studios, kindly gave us his time last week for a workshop, in which he took us through the building process. This included explaining site analysis of one of their recent sustainable builds in the Dundee area - the Hillcrest HQ. He said they had been lucky to get such a forward thinking client, as when designers mention the horrid "S" word of sustainability, a lot of clients recoil in confused disgust. He went on to tell us that usually you have to be tactful in the way you approach eco building, but with Hillcrest, they wanted to be as green as possible.

artists impression of the Hillcrest HQ
source: nrsarchitects.com

I learnt quite a lot from him, particularly about how a real project can go. I was interested to find out more about geothermal cooling systems, and about on site generation of electricity - something they used for the Hillcrest HQ, which meant enough electricity was generated to sell back to the national grid.

The relationship between your own project and the surrounding land is something that he spoke to us quite in depth, and made me consider this further for our current project. While designing the Hillcrest HQ there was another on-going build on the same piece of land, so the two firms worked closely to ensure both builds would work together. Although this is not quite the same situation for my hypothetical build, it is a site that has a close relationship to the surrounding buildings - particularly the football stadium. I added a psychological aspect into my site analysis to cover what effects the surrounding buildings in the relatively close proximity would have on such a space.

He also mentioned the cradle to cradle theory, as opposed to cradle to grave - which is a book I have been meaning to read for a while, despite buying it a ages ago.

I think I've just found my reading material for the train on Monday!

EcoOffice: Visit to SEPA Arbroath

On Wednesday, Paula, Christina and myself took a trip to Arbroath to interview one of the members of staff at SEPA's Arbroath offices. We tried to put together a selection of questions that the brief had not answered, and although he was very helpful, we have been left with some questioned still unanswered.

One of the main aspects that we were unsure about tackling, was a potential laboratory in the fictitious Dundee branch. Unfortunately, Arbroath is such a small office, it does not have such a facility. We were told however, that Aberdeen offices had recently opened their new building, which had labs. As a result of finding this out, we are currently deliberating wether or not to visit, as time is also becoming a factor.

The building itself in Arbroath was an old doctors surgery, and was reasonably old. Due to this, there was little sustainable aspects, and pretty much what you would imagine any office environment to be like. Coffee rings on desks, paper mounting up in piles, and the odd indoor plant to brighten things up. We also timed our visit just as it was being painted, with eco friendly paint I hope!

One of the questions we asked was if there was a running theme throughout the offices, and the answer was basically they would like to have the SEPA logo colours incorporated throughout. It's a teal colour, not unlike some of the typeface on my blog. This I assume, is not difficult for us to use during the remainder of our task.

A lot of our answers were based around what SEPA do as an organisation, and not so much about design itself. Although at first I was unsure as to how much help this may be, I have come to realise that the better we understand how they work, the easier it is for us to understand how to improve working conditions - and only after this, incorporate the sustainability factor. One of the things that is a result of this was realising that office employees also have a role out with the office itself, as they sometimes visit sites. An offshoot of this is that they also use equipment on site that in Arbroath's case, is currently kept in garage space some 10 minutes away. This is food for thought, as equipment space was not a requirement of the initial brief.

A lot of the facts that we were told can be found on their website, including annual pdf reports, documenting statistical data regarding SEPA's office emissions.

All in all it was a useful trip as it let us get an insight into how they work, although ultimately a trip to their Aberdeen offices would also be beneficial.

filing space seems to be an issue

...definitely need more filing space

a bit of a theme appears to be coming apparent

recycling efforts - I'm sure we could aim higher!

as a borderline OCD sufferer for organisation - this stresses me out!

EcoOffice: Site Analysis

The necessary evil that is Site Analysis is now complete! 

I have included this on my blog to document everything that I have been doing for my current project - which covers an array of things. As I have already said though, site analysis is just one of the necessary evils associated with such a project. We have to document every aspect of the location, with regards to how these aspects will affect a potential build. 

Trawling census statistics is far from fun.

image from google images