Owlstone Croft
Queens’ College Cambridge appointed Beyond Carbon as Passivhaus Consultant on this development of four new student accommodation terraces.
Client: Queens’ College Cambridge
Location: Cambridge
Construction: value: £20m
Building Type: Student housing
Our Role: Passivhaus Consultant
Architect: Mikhail Riches
Contractor: Morgan Sindall
Standard: Passivhaus Classic
Status: RIBA Stage 4B
Owlstone Croft is an excellent example of the design optimisation and simplicity which is at the heart of Passivhaus.
The buildings are constructed of CLT, which delivers low embodied carbon and a structure that itself provides an ideal airtightness strategy. Beyond Carbon has played a pivotal role in the detailed design development of the scheme, proactively leading the design team toward compliant, buildable and simple solutions for achieving Passivhaus. We have led monthly Passivhaus workshops throughout RIBA Stage 4, utilising our in-house Passivhaus tracker tool to record, monitor and resolve arising design issues, highlight risks and opportunities, and provide clear guidance.
A key aspect of the project has been the overheating strategy: Queens’ College has set enhanced requirements for ensuring the building is resilient to a warming climate long into its life. While numerous passive overheating strategies were tested, the team found that to deliver a building that would remain habitable over the next 30 years would require a limited amount of cooling (‘peak-lop’), which could be delivered very simply using MVHR units with integral heat pumps to supply cooled fresh air. This would only be required during the hottest conditions, ensuring that energy consumption was minimised.