Unpacking the Design to Cost Process
Oxford North's new innovation district will deliver one million sq ft of new labs and work spaces, along with 480 new homes.
The scheme is being delivered by Thomas White Oxford, the development company of St John's College, in JV with Ontario Teachers' Pension Plan and Stanhope.
Victoria Collett, of Thomas White Oxford, was asked about how the project team sets its course.
“We hold ourselves to a high standard, and the City Council has ambitious targets. We set these high bars for our development. It can seem a surprise to people on the other side of the table who want to work with us when they realise we mean it. It’s not just nice to haves – it’s a target, and they have to meet it.”
Victoria stressed the importance of evaluation and evolution throughout each project phase, particularly when certain elements of a building’s design, such as the façade, will have a major impact on its carbon performance:
“We should see some improvement as we progress through the phases whilst the costs should remain the same, albeit adjusted for inflation. That will require continuous improvement.”
James York, Area Director for Morgan Sindall Construction in the Thames Valley, asked if the biggest driver for achieving high sustainability outcomes is future proofing the value of the investment?
Victoria used Thomas White Oxford itself as an example:
The College has extremely long time horizon, and we intend to hold the investment in perpetuity. The operational carbon is important to us so that over time the scheme continues to perform well, even against continuously improving standards.”
She recalled her earlier career, working in residential and for a different developer, the feeling of being “so concerned about the fact we were still building homes that we knew would need retrofitting. That's why the emphasis should be on the importance of long-term investment from the design phase. I think that’s where Oxford City Council is coming from with their [demand] for a 40% improvement in Part L.”
The panel agreed that the demand for sustainability credentials from the next generation in the workplace is also part of the future proofing equation. “It's not just about science-based targets or the initiative a company is following. It is predominantly employee-driven and should be a key factor when designing buildings,” said Kathryn Andrew.
Kathryn Andrew, Development Manager for MEPC also spoke about yield improvement as being about being able to address sustainability criteria set by occupiers.
She referenced Milton Park – a business park between Didcot and Abingdon, that is home to 250 technology companies.
“At Milton Park, we build commercial buildings for our end users - who are predominantly for the life science technology market - and we’re seeing very specific asks for sustainability credentials from occupiers.
For the next generation of employees, who are coming out of university for example, sustainability is one of the most important things for them and they care so much about it.”
She also reflected on the city centre office market. MEPC has high performance new schemes in the UK – including Wellington Place in Leeds and the NOMA district in Manchester. “They offer this green premium that people value. It appeals to occupiers who've done the calculations whereby they've seen that if they move to this office space, they'll be meeting their own sustainability criteria.”
It's the No1 priority
It's in the mix
Totally unimportant
William Naismith of engineering consultancy Hoare Lea, spoke about funders’ expectations:
William discussed working with Thomas White Oxford and the Oxford North scheme which is now coming out of the ground and how the original brief has evolved to cater for evolving targets and needs. “What we have offered in terms of sustainability there has really changed the plan, particularly over the last five years. With regard to embodied carbon - that wasn't a factor during the first stage designs of the scheme but has now really come to the forefront.”
The issues arise from change include “costs, where the façade is procured from, structural solutions, and who takes the risks, where the benefits lie, and what does it mean for occupier fit-out,” he added.
There is a need for them to hit their investment requirements, spread across markets and which includes ESG reporting. The bigger the investor, the more pressure to ensure that the businesses they are investing in “are doing the right thing,” he said.