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Warwick House, Angell Town "The willingness of contractors to push the boundaries of sustainable contruction must itself be made sustainable by higher volume orders for sustainability projects". Matt Prescott, London Borough of Lambeth. Project description Background The regeneration of Angell Town has been taking place over many years. A notorious series of threatening deck access blocks have been replaced with street properties, designed by 5 different architects, on a traditional street grid pattern. Warwick House is the final piece in the regeneration. The new Warwick House is a building of 18 flats for Lambeth council tenants, situated to the north of Brixton town centre. The old Warwick House has been part demolished to make way for this, and part refurbished. Waste Minimisation Activity Waste audits were undertaken for the demolished buildings, leading to re-use of materials in the new building, along with the adoption of sustainable building technologies such as rainwater harvesting and solar panel roofing. Materials Targetted Waste products from demolition were mainly concrete, brick, cabling, lighting and wiring, plus some timber. Some of the timber products e.g. doors were reused in the adjacent Warwick House refurbishment project. Project Drivers for Waste Minimisation The client, the London Borough of Lambeth, has a strong commitment to sustainable construction. Warwick House represented a great opportunity to gather together many strands of sustainability best practice into one very visible building, with a high profile. Warwick House can therefore act as an exemplar project on which Lambeth can continue to build.

Project profile Location: Brixton, England Project Duration (in relation to the described activities): Feb 2004 to May 2005 Client: The London Borough of Lambeth Company Profile Lambeth Housing - Regeneration Client Project Partners: Sandwood Design and Build Anne Thorne Architects Partnership Andrew Turner and Company

Project Approach to Waste Minimisation and Sustainable Use of Resources

Design Phase Activities:

Enabling waste minimisation and the use of non-primary materials:
The scheme incorporates rainwater harvesting, with the pump powered by some of the energy produced by the solar roof. The rainwater will be used to flush WCs and water the garden.

Using local approaches:
Undamaged concrete roof tiles from the demolished section of Warwick House have been used to repair the refurbished part.

Company practice and management in supporting waste minimisation and improved approaches to resources use:
Anne Thorne Architects Partnership were involved in the sustainable refurbishment of nearby Holles House. A company with a strong environmental ethic, they have been instrumental in pushing forward the Warwick House project in a sustainability-conscious manner.

Better handling of materials:
The contract required a waste audit, identifying waste streams for differing wastes and methods for dealing with them. This included waste separation on site with bins for timber, plastics and metals. The BRE environmental performance Indicator SMARTWaste procedure was used as a local tool to monitor waste as it is generated on site, and used to implement measures to reduce it.

Using specifications appropriate to enabling the use of recycled and secondary materials:
Norman Beddington of ecoconstruction.org looked at the specification and explored options regarding recycled materials. For example, board materials made from timber waste and forest thinnings are specified, as are plasterboards which contain a significant percentage of recycled material. Recycled newpaper cellulose insulation is used in the prefabricated timber panels.

The specification aims to reduce the amount of plastics used on site, but where necessary recycled plastic damp proof membrane and damp proof course are specified. Also, rainwater is being reused to flush WCs.

Construction Phase Activities:

Enabling waste minimisation and the use of non-primary materials:
Sandwood minimised waste spoil by using it to fill up what was the basement of the previous building and by restricting muckaways.

Using local approaches:
Demolition waste has been used as crushed aggregate under Angell Town estate roads (within half mile radius) as well as in the foundations of Warwick House and other neighbouring developments.

Company practice and management in supporting waste minimisation and improved approaches to resources use:
Sandwood used off site manufacturing where possible eg. timber frame, concrete floors.
They also give subcontractors a target number of skips to minimise waste. Sandwood's Environmental policy is well known in the company because they have a high level of direct labour, unusual in the construction industry, which encourages awareness of company policies.

Better handling of materials:
Sandwood employ Lean Construction principles, helping to avoid issues such as double handling.

Good practice in quantifying, costing and recording data on wastes and materials:
Warwick House is aiming for a BRE ecohomes excellent rating.

Good practice in demolition and deconstruction activities:
The main contractor, Sandwood, use the BRE SMARTWaste system. Demolition waste from the old Warwick House was crushed before it was taken off site.

Lessons Learned, Benefits and Barriers

It is not always possible to use crushed demolition waste within the same development, but it is often possible to find schemes in the vicinity which can use it. This cuts down on road transport. Early research and preparation by consultants and contractor helps, so that last minute procurement does not reduce choice.

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