Cooper Cromar Architects have taken the reins at a prominent site in Glasgow city centre as part of a pivot from build-to-rent apartments back to office space.
Varsity Developments propose to retain the current listed building at 64-72 Waterloo Street and demolish the remainder in the latest evolution of a Bennetts design that has been going through the planning system since 2016. Sliding Doors
Since acquiring the site Varsity has conducted a design review which questions the deliverability and sustainability of a predominately glazed facade as well as high levels of embodied carbon contained within a corten steel frame.
Citing the climate emergency as grounds for a rethink the architects wrote: "The building Filigree is formed in non-unitised Corten Steel, which uses significant embodied carbon, is unlikely to provide substantial solar shading relative to its carbon footprint, and cannot be constructed as an efficient and quality Unitised curtain walling system.
"In addition, the consented facade design creates significant structural challenges. In addition to the unnecessary embodied carbon, the structural arrangement shown on the consented façade design would cause buildability and programming issues, as the elevational steelwork would require to be craned into position following the installation of the curtain walling."
In response, the proportion of glazing will be reduced from 80-90% to less than 60% and a redundant facade layer removed entirely to simplify the build. In its place, an aluminium curtain walling system is proposed for ease of maintenance.
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