Defra's Lion House triumphs at BREEAM awards

Defra's Lion House in Alnwick has become the first building to be awarded a post-construction "Outstanding" rating, under the new BREEAM environmental assessment methodology. The building was amongst 16 projects to receive recognition in the 2010 BREEAM awards, which were presented at Ecobuild.

Lion House, which was originally assessed and certified under BREEAM 2006, was reassessed under the new BREEAM 2008 rating system and is the first building to be awarded a final Outstanding rating. The project received the OGC Special Award for Government Sector Achievement.

The G Park Blue Planet development was recognised as the first building to be awarded a BREEAM Industrial – interim – "Outstanding" rating while architects Stride Treglown's new office in Cardiff, due for completion in 2010, was also awarded an interim "Outstanding" rating under the BREEAM Office category.

Carol Atkinson, BRE global chief executive, said: “These buildings have comprehensively demonstrated their remarkable environmental credentials, whilst also providing attractive and commercially viable accommodation, workplaces and community facilities.”

The buildings shortlisted for the awards were drawn from those achieving "Excellent" ratings under various BREEAM schemes during 2009. To gain an "Excellent" rating developments must earn most of the performance credits available in the areas of: energy, materials, waste, water, ecology, pollution, transport, management, and health and wellbeing. The award winners are:

BREEAM Bespoke

Bletchley Leisure Centre
Architect: Holder Mathias Architects
Contractor: SDC
The design team took particular care to minimise the environmental costs in use, for example by incorporating a biomass boiler and reducing water consumption wherever possible.

BREEAM Courts

Salisbury Law Court
Architect: Stride Treglown
Contractor: Mansell Construction
The scheme accommodates wide ranging facilities whilst providing a building that is highly energy efficient, maximises natural ventilation and reduces water consumption.

BREEAM Ecohomes

The Sanderstead Road development in Croydon for the Metropolitan Housing Trust.
Architect: AHP Architects & Surveyors
Contractor: Mansell Construction
The development comprises a block of 38 flats and two blocks of semi-detached, four bedroom houses. Sustainable features include the use of highly insulated and responsibly procured timber frames, resulting in good thermal performance and environmentally sound construction.

BREEAM Further Education

Loreto Sixth Form College, Manchester
Architect: Taylor Young
Contractor: Bardsley Construction
The project managers, AA Projects, were tasked with delivering a state-of-the-art teaching facility that promotes sustainable design to the college and its wider community.

BREEAM Industrial

Defra's Veterinary Laboratories Agency Stores facility near Weybridge in Surrey
Architect: Wilson Mason & Partners
Contractor: Walter Lilly
Aiming for the best possible green strategy from the very outset of the project, Defra and all members the design team worked together to achieve an exceptionally high overall BREEAM score of nearly 84%.

BREEAM International

Centrum Galerie, Dresden, Germany
Architect: Peter Kulka Architektur Dresden GmbH
Developer: Multi Development Germany GmbH
Dresden's biggest shopping mall and the first building in Germany – and the first shopping mall in continental Europe - to receive BREEAM Excellent. The development combines the careful use of resources and optimal energy and space consumption, with the use of advanced energy saving and other technologies.

BREEAM Multi-Residential

Carnegie Village at Leeds Metropolitan University
Architect: GWP Architecture
Contractor: Shepherd Construction
The project provides 479 student study bedrooms in "cluster flat" and "townhouse" arrangements. This includes two Passivhaus townhouses.

BREEAM Offices

Horizon House in Bristol
Architect: Alec French
Contractor: Sir Robert McAlpine
The Environment Agency's new corporate office scored 85% under BREEAM. Developed by Westmark, Horizon House meets the brief for a commercially viable building that also has the highest environmental standards - these were key to securing the Environment Agency's tenancy.

BREEAM Prisons

The new accommodation blocks at Littlehey II Young Offenders' institute
Architect: Capita Symonds/Premier Interlink Waco UK
Contractor: Wates Construction
Among the new buildings' many environmental attributes are its biomass heating system which provides more than 30% of annual heating, a modular construction with outstanding thermal performance and integrated high performance M&E design.

BREEAM Retail

White River Place, St Austell, Cornwall
Architect: Chetwoods Architects
Contractor: Sir Robert McAlpine
A joint venture by the South West Regional Development Agency and White River Developments. As a major local development, community interaction and involvement was taken very seriously and construction materials and employees were locally sourced wherever possible.

BREEAM Schools

Rogiet Primary School
Architect: White Design
Contractor: Willmott Dixon Construction
Sustainable design principles have been followed from the outset and integrated with the children's education. For example, landscape design includes a nature garden area and a pond for wildlife study, and an eco wall in the library includes displays of energy use and rainwater capture.

OGC Special Award for Government Sector Achievement

Defra's Lion House
This building was originally assessed and certified under BREEAM 2006 but has now been reassessed under BREEAM 2008 and is the first building under BREEAM Offices 2008 to receive its final "Outstanding" rating.

First BREEAM Industrial (Interim) Outstanding Rating

G Park Blue Planet
This 35,500m² building was the first development to achieve an interim Outstanding rating under the new BREEAM 2008. Highlights of its sustainability include a plan to power the whole development through a biomass plant located on one edge of the site to provide heating and electricity, highly water efficient fittings, a rainwater harvesting system and significant ecological enhancement of the site. Developers Gazeley estimate that the environmental features in the building will save up to £300,000 a year in running costs.

First BREEAM Offices 2008 (Interim) Outstanding rating

Stride Treglown's new office in Cardiff, due for completion in 2010.
This building is designed to accommodate over 50 staff on two floors in an open studio arrangement. It adopts a paper insulated structurally insulated panel system for supporting walls, roof and floors. The building is located on a former industrial service yard and provides facilities for cycle storage, showers and drying facilities, whilst car share parking spaces are given priority. Green Guide A or A+ rated materials are used throughout.

First BREEAM Europe Retail project

Unibail-Rodamco's Docks 76, which is the new 36,000 m2 shopping and leisure centre in Rouen. Both the Agrivin and Docks buildings, which are part of Docks 76, achieved the first certification under the new BREEAM Europe Retail scheme for shell and core at the design stage. Particular features of the design which helped achieve this rating including the re-use of an existing building on-site, thereby avoiding the environmental impact of demolition and reconstruction, and a 20% reduction of electricity consumption through the use of natural ventilation. The development also incorporates leak detection systems and water-saving features and the use of water by visitors is expected to be reduced by 30%.

First BREEAM In-Use International project

The British Embassy, Berlin
This was originally opened by HM The Queen in July 2000 and is managed by Johnson Controls GWS on behalf of the Foreign & Commonwealth Office. It achieved a "Very Good" rating for Part 1: Asset Performance and Part 2 : Building Management Performance under the new scheme. BREEAM In-Use was launched in March 2009 to help building managers reduce the running costs and improve the environmental performance of existing buildings. BREEAM assessors TPS Consult played a key role in the development of this new scheme specifically for the Foreign and Commonwealth Office.