greenhouse

We found Shaftesbury House in 2004 and thought it had great potential for our flagship 'green' project. 2 years later we took our first tentative steps on site and drilled a test borehole to see whether the aquifer that we all hoped existed...

Fortunately at 80m below ground we struck Beeston gold, and found that the aquifer had a high enough water flow rate for us to design the GSHP system to provide heating, cooling and the help with the domestic hot water! The Greenhouse system design was born....

In 2007 we eventually break ground on what was a complex demolition. The original building hads 4 small internal courtyards, split by a central cruciform of accommodation. The first job was to take down this section of the building, leaving the outer core of accommodation stripped back from its hostel interior, ready for a substantial re-furbishment. There were several logistical problems here, but these were overcome by craning a JCB over the existing structure, and then using remote control robots to take down the edges of the cruciform. Yes really.

2008, and finally the main building work started. Rapid progress was made, with the rain and grey water tanks lifted over and bedded beneath what is now the basement car park. With drainage in, the concrete frame progressed rapidly. By 2009 we were well underway, with the concrete frame providing a new build 'inner core' of accommodation focussed around a central courtyard. All of a sudden, Greenhouse really started to take shape.

As soon as we were water-tight, work on the internals was flying and by mid 2009 we saw the first apartment layouts. Then it was time for the rest of the renewables; 1 turbine was winched into place on each liftcore, and the once the concrete roof was completed the 210 msq solar thermal collector panels were fixed and connected through to the hot water plant room. At the same time, the bleak brown bricks of Shaftesbury House were given an energy efficiency facelift with around a foot of external insulation.

The summer of 2010 was very hectic as the gym, cafe deli and courtyard landscaping werel completed just in time for Hilary Benn MP to make a great toast at our launch on 1st October 2010. A proud day for all.

But that's just the first chapter of Greenhouse. It's what happens next that writes the story...