A significant portion of the discussion centres on the importance of reducing embodied carbon—the carbon footprint associated with materials and construction processes.

All in all, the technical spaces in a building become a lot smaller.This will also mean the capital cost should come down and certainly the running costs will decrease.

Ultimately, you will have a happy client who won’t have to pay as much to run the building every year.With the Circle Reading project, architects Bryden Wood have employed a design ethic powered by both clinical practicality and build efficiency, delivering a hospital not only visually distinctive, but one which utilises insightful, use-driven design and cutting edge manufacturing processes.It’s a space which continually upends expectations - a structure of steel and concrete, much of which was built offsite..The achievement has been made possible by the implementation of a bespoke Design for Manufacture and Assembly system, which Bryden Wood developed in conjunction with Circle and tailored specifically for their needs.

Ultimately, the system played a key role in the creation of Adaptable Platforms.which Board Director Jaimie Johnston says, ‘allows a far wider range of clients to get the same benefits without the need to create a new system.’.

Speaking about the innovative qualities of the Circle project, Co-Founder Martin Wood comments that Circle Reading was the first exercise to really connect design and construction in such an intimate way.

‘The platform principle completely enshrines design and construction as a single entity,’ he says.In terms of where the construction industry is heading in the near future, Professor Glass says that in addition to prioritising our climate change issues, she’d like to see an end to the use of Return on Capital Employed for all of the major contractors.

If this unsustainable situation were to change, so that we instead faced a scenario whereby Tier 1 contractors were being judged on Return on Investment, it would likely mean that these key players had disrupted their businesses, understood where change was necessary, were investing, doing more R&D, and creating net zero businesses.In other words, the change the industry is looking for will happen with Tier 1.

As such, we must continue on our current trajectory towards innovation, change and forward progress.As we focus our energy and attention on shaping the future of construction, facilitating a new and better reality for our built environment, we’ll find that both our society and planet will reap the benefits of a modernised and more sustainable construction industry.. To learn more about our Design to Value approach to design and construction, sign up for our monthly newsletter here:.