An innovative low energy integrated health and social care building for a deprived community

The Braunstone Health and Social Care Centre will deliver an integrated service to one of the top ten deprived wards in the UK. Until now, the provision of health and social care was provided by separate services in discrete locations. This paper describes a project to house an integrated service model within a new sustainable building, exploiting passive solar principles and natural ventilation. The building has a deep plan punctuated by courtyards. Its section is configured to admit winter sun through controllable south facing rooflights. The building is of lightweight construction. Pre-cooling of ventilation supply air in summer is proposed via a belowfloor labyrinth. The risk of summertime overheating and the potential contribution of the pre-cooling is tested by computer simulation. The design, and in particular its energy aspects, is the product of widespread consultation with the public and the stakeholders. Conference Topic: Design Strategies, Case Studies, Low Energy Architecture