Green Sky Thinking Event 2014
BACA architects has developed a speciality in water-related design and are leaders in flood-resilient architecture and masterplanning.
Drawing on their award-winning research – the LifE project – BACA will present their Amphibious house (currently under construction and the first of its kind in the UK), Aquobox (a demonstration flood-resilient building for the BRE Innovation Park) and the MIPIM 2014 award-winning island development, Nijmegen (€365m Dutch Room for the River Project).
BACA have recently completed a chapter on flooding for the forthcoming Metric Handbook. BACA will also convey their vision for tackling future climate issues, from individual buildings to whole climate-adaptive cities.
Director Richard Coutts will be heading to Cannes to receive the Practice’s latest award, this time for the Eiland Veur Lent project in Nijmegen, Holland.
The ‘island retreat’ design has been awarded the MIPIM AR Future Projects Award for Regeneration and Masterplanning. Part of the Dutch ‘Room for the River’ programme, the newly-created island in a major flood-relief channel combines water recreation, river ecology, flood-resilient development and sustainable infrastructure to create an holistic and self-sufficient ‘eco-leisure’ destination.
The Making Space for Water programme marks a paradigm shift in flood mitigation, with developments designed to make space for floodwater and work in harmony with natural processes. Construction began in late 2013 and once completed Eiland Veur Lent will be an exemplar, integrated solution and showcase for international architectural and technical innovation.
Richard will be collecting the award on behalf of the Practice and attending the MIPIM Conference for the full three days.
As large parts of the UK continue to suffer from severe flooding, BACA have once again been called upon to appear as expert commentators by the UK media.
This time appearing on ITV London News, BACA Director, Richard Coutts, presented the Practice’s innovative Amphibious House, a national first, demonstrating how the home rises to float within its own dock when flooding occurs and returns to ground level once water levels have receded.
Also discussed were proposals from BACA’s award-wining LifE Project (Long-term Initiatives for Flood-risk Environments), a non-defensive and sustainable approach to working with water within future developments.
Richard explained the growing need to consider and integrate water into our built environment as we adapt to coping with more frequent flood events.
Following another spate of heavy rainfall across the United Kingdom, the issue of flooding once again found itself high on the national agenda. BACA’s Robert Barker was invited by the BBC News to appear as expert commentator on their item regarding further devastating flooding, of real concern to millions of homeowners and businesses.
Robert discussed both current and proposed flood-risk management techniques that BACA are employing to help clients and planners protect homes and businesses from the expense and distress of flood damage. Larger-scale proposals were also introduced, that would make whole areas resilient to flood-risk, rather than just individual buildings. Innovative uses of parkland areas and car parks for water storage during flood events, alongside cutting-edge underground water storage systems, are just some of the measures that BACA is utilising effectively to reduce flood damage.
Robert also explored BACA’s radical proposal for government to create specific areas that would lie outside of traditional planning regulations by granting an Innovation Licence. These areas would be breeding grounds for innovation, where companies and individuals could explore revolutionary new ideas and build and develop them.
New methods that proved effective could then be permanently licenced and employed in the development of technology to reduce the increasing threat from flooding.
This year, amongst others, BACA architects helped to achieve planning consent for 670 new homes as mixed-use redevelopment of a major brownfield regeneration site in Norwich; and secured planning consent for one of the most ambitious houses of the 21st century – and it is designed to passivhaus.
After almost 10 years the practice still has 100% planning success.
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In Nijmegen, Netherlands construction work has started on the new flood relief channel and associated works, including the new road bridge. The project is one of the largest ‘Room for the River’ projects in Europe, creating a 1km flood relief channel, super dyke, 3 new bridges and a new marina.
