Once again this year there is a packed out conference programme at Ecobuild. It’s often difficult to know what to see and where to go first. That is why we have created a quick and easy Quinn Building Products 9 ‘Must-Sees’ Guide for our top-picks for Ecobuild throughout the course of the three days.
Day One at Ecobuild is all about ‘Homes’ with a range of sessions from ‘What makes good housing’ right through to insights into the ‘Future of sustainable housing.’ Day Two is dedicated to ‘Architecture’ with conferences looking at ‘Architecture Visionaries’ and ‘The changing role of the Architect’ as well as a special interview with Stephen Fry. Finally on Day Three at Ecobuild focuses on future gazing under the name ‘Next Generation’.
DAY 1: Tuesday 8th March – Homes
The PechaKucha presentation format of 20 slides each lasting for 20 seconds was devised by Architects Astrid Klein and Mark Dytham, therefore, it is only fitting that presentations on new innovative projects from NLA ‘New Ideas for Housing’ Competition are shared in this way. Presentations from dRMM Architects, Pitman Tozer Architects and HTA Design LLP will showcase their ideas for housing that will help solve the London housing shortage.
3.30pm: ‘How to Save on Construction Costs with Effective Thermal Bridging Solutions?’ (Specifiers Live Stage)
Ecobuild is a great way for Architects and Specifiers to keep up to date with the latest regulations and standards and engage with Continuing Professional Development. Taking to the Specifiers Live Stage Jason Martin, Specification Manager at Quinn Building Products and Andrew Lundberg, Thermal Modeller at Passivate discuss ‘How to Effectively Combat Thermal Bridging.’ Improvements in building insulation and regulations has meant that thermal bridges can be the area which cause considerable inefficiencies in the overall thermal performance of the building. As well as defining what Thermal Bridging is this seminar also looks at the effects of Thermal Bridging on key building regulation requirements such as SAP calculations.
DAY 2: Wednesday 9th March – Architecture
The house building industry is often criticised for producing bland ‘shoe box’ style homes, however, in order to leave a lasting positive legacy for future generations the sector must strive to create wonderful homes which meet and satisfy the user needs as well as coping with challenging environmental conditions. Leading sustainable house builders, Barratt, Crest Nicholson and Lendlease take to the stage to discuss ‘Homes for the Future’ and investigate the business case for delivery of quality sustainable homes.
Richard Coutt of Baca Architects will be discussing the UK’s first amphibious house. Nestled on an island, just 10m from the banks of the River Thames, the amphibious house, designed by Baca Architects, is a 225 sqm building that seeks to address risk of water ingress and devastating damage which can be caused by flooding. With flooding becoming an increasingly coming occurrence affecting many homes and businesses the amphibious house sits on the ground on fixed foundations but can rise up and float in the event of floodwater.
Chaired by the Past President of the Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA) Stephen Hodder MBE, this session explores if the Architect can meet the challenge and demonstrate their worth. In a BIM and Digital era where collaboration is key, this session will question what does this mean in practice and how can Architects lead the way?
As well as this Daniel Gray, Architectural Director for Laing O’Rourke will explore when is the right time to involve the contractor and Peter Runacres, Senior Project Director for Argent LLP will discuss what the client requires from the design and construction team.
3.30pm: ‘How would we build on the moon?’ (Conference)
Astronaut Tim Peake has recently sparked the nation’s interest in space travel and with Virgin Galactic creating the first commercial space line – people are now starting to think How we could build on the moon. Chaired by BBC Arts Editor, Will Gompertz, the Architect Xavier de Kestelier of Specialist Modelling Group – Foster & Partners will discuss how his practice are addressing the challenges of the future by exploring what it would take to make lunar inhabitation possible including the limitations that would be faced as well as the innovation required.
4.00pm: BIG IDEA SESSION; Post Biomimicry – How can Bio-receptivity be used to create living structures? (Build Circular Stage)
Take time out to ponder some interesting questions with Professor Marcos Cruz and Architect Richard Beckett of Bartlett School of Architecture for the Big Idea Session. The human race has created many sustainability problems and challenges – by looking towards nature, plants, animals and microbes we can learn how Mother Nature has solved many of these problems that we as humans face. Biomimicry seeks to emulate nature’s time proven strategies to create products, processes and policies capitalising on billions of years of Mother Nature adapting to life’s challenges.
12.00pm: Smart Technology and Building Performance in Non-domestic Buildings (Building Performance Stage)
Smart phones, Smart watches and Smart TVs are now all part of modern living, this seminar will explore how smart technology and controls can offer occupant comfort, wellbeing and energy savings. Chaired by Dr Jon Kirkpatrick, Head of Sustainability at Lendlease, the seminar focuses on the relationship between space and technology and how passive and active approaches interconnect and interact to deliver improved performance.
With the construction industry clearly moving from the analogue to the digital age, approaches such as Building Information Modelling (BIM) are changing the way we collaborate, communicate and exchange information which will result in a better built asset. From April 4th this year the UK Government has mandated the use of BIM on all centrally procured government projects. With this in mind, BIM objects are becoming the Digital building blocks by which we add information to a model. Raymond O’Reilly, BIM Manager at Quinn Building Products, together with Mark Clarkson, BIM Coordinator at Quinn Building Products will explain key terms and concepts relating to BIM, discuss how product data better informs the design process and will explore the next generation of Digital Construction from a manufacturers perspective including the validation of COBie Data with the use of BIM Object Systems.
Come and visit Quinn Building Products on stand E3039 anytime to talk to our Technical Experts Team, view our New Product Demonstrations and visit our Virtual Hub using Virtual Reality and Augmented Reality to showcase how Quinn Building Products Systems work and the benefits they bring to the build.
Registration for Ecobuild is Free here.
