A health and wellbeing facility is at the centre of a new development in White City, London.
Penoyre & Prasad has designed the sustainable mixed-used project for Fulcrum Infrastructure Management and Notting Hill Housing.
The development, known as The Bloom, comprises a 3,400sq m primary healthcare and social services facility known as the Parkview Centre for Health and Wellbeing; retail units; and 170 one-, two- and three-bedroom shared-ownership apartments and low-cost market-discount apartments.
Set back from the edge of the main road, The Bloom forms the eastern boundary to Wormholt Park and has created a new public piazza along Bloemfontein Road, with a grand civic gateway through to Wormholt Park. The two-storey-high gateway, situated in the middle of the main elevation, offers a strong visual and physical link to the park, which has transformed the streetscape and contributed positively to the urban environment.
The Parkview Centre for Health and Wellbeing, located on the ground and first-floor levels at the northern end of the development, is focused around a central main entrance that opens onto generous double-height waiting areas that reach out and provide views into the park.
The centre provides a range of services across the two floors including space for four GP practices, podiatry, dentistry, an integrated centre for children with disabilities, and a variety of social services including an adult social care team, learning disability services, and the health and wellbeing team.
The radical approach to sharing and standardisation of space between the NHS and local authority has enabled a flexible layout.
The health centre was cross-funded through the sale of the apartments, which are built over five storeys sitting above the health centre and retail units. Below this sits a large basement carpark for residents and health centre staff, accessed via an enclosed ramp at the southern end of the development. The ramp enclosure and the two-storey health and retail elements create a base clad in a combination of curtain walling and white GRC panels.
Penoyre & Prasad designed The Bloom to minimise energy consumption through low-energy design by using on-site renewables and a gas-fired CHP plant to provide heat and power to the various elements of the scheme. To achieve high levels of energy and CO2 reduction, the project also features energy-efficient lighting and lighting controls as well as A-rated boilers with a high-efficiency heat recovery air handling plant.
The CHP unit provides heating and electricity, but also works as a standby generator, feeding essential supplies in the event of a power outage. It can also export electricity when demand is not available locally. Photovoltaic panels are installed on 80sq m of roof, which provide 9.72kW under normal UK daylight hours.
In addition, the building incorporates a number of sustainability initiatives to minimise energy consumption in use and construction and to increase biodiversity. The building fabric has high thermal insulation levels and the in-situ concrete frame and slabs provide large spans, thermal mass and help to futureproof the building against climate change. Good solar control has been ensured throughout the building through shading and solar control glass to avoid overheating in summer and to increase passive gains in winter. Green roofs have also been implemented in the design along with attenuation tanks to encourage biodiversity and reduce rainwater runoff while also reducing the impact on existing systems.
These combined systems have reduced the total site output by 43% and have earned the health centre a BREEAM sustainability rating of ‘excellent’.
