AHP were engaged as lead consultant for this project in the London Borough of Ealing. The scheme comprised a new single storey Children’s Centre providing facilities for children and young people with disabilities and special needs. A sustainable, environmentally friendly building was required to replace the existing buildings and provide additional facilities in a robust and safe environment that was fully DDA compliant.

Some of the children and young people who were to use the centre were very sensitive to noise and acoustic insulation was noted to be an important aspect of the project. The site location, adjacent to a London Underground line, made the acoustic treatment of the building significantly more important, the clear design intent from the client was for the building to provide both a visual and acoustic barrier between the railway cutting and the local park, enhancing the local environment for the park users. AHP worked with the users, local authority planners and the appointed contractor to develop a scheme which achieved all these criteria.

The flat roofs were finished with sedum green roof coverings adding both to the sustainable credits for the building and providing additional acoustic insulation. From previous experience, and engaging the knowledge of our in-house BREEAM Assessor, we were able to suggest alternative renewable solutions, including the use of air source heat pumps and a biomass boiler. The project achieved a Very Good BREEAM rating