Land Rover BAR HQ making waves in sustainable design

LAND ROVER BAR IS BOTH A SPORTS TEAM AND A BUSINESS WITH LONG-TERM PLANS AND LONG-TERM AMBITIONS, ONE OF WHICH IS TO WIN THE AMERICA’S CUP, COMPETITIVE SAILING’S BIGGEST PRIZE AND THE OLDEST TROPHY IN INTERNATIONAL SPORT. SUSTAINABILITY MANAGER SUSIE TOMSON EXPLAINS WHY THE BUILDING IS THE NATURAL PROGRESSION OF A SUSTAINABILITY DRIVE RIGHT ACROSS THE ORGANISATION.

From the outset in 2014 our team, led by Sir Ben Ainslie, and our exclusive sustainability partner, 11th Hour Racing, wanted to build a purpose-built facility housing all of our team’s operations from design to sailing, sports science to marketing and for it to become a showcase for sport, innovation, technology and sustainability.

11th Hour Racing Inc was set up to support the Land Rover BAR programme specifically to promote collaborative, systemic change for the health of the marine environment which was a vision of sustainability they shared with the team here at Land Rover BAR so there was total collaboration from the start.

We knew we wanted something special, incorporating a resource-efficient design with high specification, responsibly sourced materials, and renewable technologies to deliver a low carbon emitting, purpose built facility. As a global sustainability standard, BREEAM presented a natural synergy for us and from the outset our team of architects HGP, contractor Allied Developments and fit out specialists Overbury were focused on embracing BREEAM to help us deliver an exceptional building.

Engagement has been critical and throughout the project we have worked closely to ensure our staff, our stakeholders and the community in which we exist have all been with us on the journey. To ensure ongoing engagement across of all our staff, the building has been designed around a hierarchy of cascading floor layers linked together through a central lightwell. This connects everyone to the heart of the team – the boat – ensuring they have a view of it no matter what department they work in.

Efficiencies in time, energy and materials as a result of BREEAM and BIM drove a 50% saving in programme delivery which has led to significant financial savings. Although these savings have not been fully quantified, they are likely to reach over a £1million across the programme. We focused on renewable energy and with our Renewable Energy Partner, Low Carbon have installed a solar array that has recorded producing 70% building power, but with a lower longer term average of 20%.

The procurement process was extremely quick, from building commencement in June 2014 to the team moving in a year later in June 2015, placing a great pressure on the team to perform and focus efforts on the final goal of sustainability every time. Applying a global standard rating like BREEAM meant that overall performance was replicated easily and it enabled the design team to create strict timelines and goals for the construction team to focus their efforts on.

Whole life thinking has meant that operational efficiency has been incorporated not just into the construction phase but also day-to-day management of the facility. Our bespoke building management system monitors 15 different points including energy and water consumption, renewable energy generation and waste. By applying circular thinking, careful choices around material mean the building can be deconstructed more easily and more building materials recycled at end of life.

At Land Rover BAR we have built the team base to BREEAM Excellent with the aspiration that this acts as the framework for our operations – when people visit, they can tell the building is different. For us it is all about design, technology and innovation which delivers sustainability on so many fronts.

When we decided to build our own base, we could’ve gone a number of different ways in terms of build quality. With sustainability at the heart of everything we do, and with 11th Hour Racing alongside us, and through utilisation of BREEAM, we have created a building that reflects the aspirations of our team and firmly puts Land Rover BAR on the map.