Open University, Building 12Walton Hall Campus, Milton Keynes

The imperative was to reduce the performance gap between low-energy simulated design and actual in-use building performance, whilst achieving high degrees of occupant comfort and control.

The Open University’s Estate Department was one of the first UK office buildings to achieve BREEAM Outstanding. It was designed and thermally modelled to ensure it could passively moderate its internal environment. The passive design features include a thermal mass construction, good provision of natural daylight, control of solar gains, natural ventilation and night cooling, stack effect driven air movement and high levels of thermal insulation.

The project was delivered as part of a partnering framework, where the contractor, consultants and client team had visibility of the design, cost and programme to enable collaborative and critical thinking and drive maximum value throughout the design and construction periods.