This BREEAM Excellent student development was delivered in just 11 months in the midst of the global pandemic – and with a significant reduction in embodied carbon compared to industry benchmarks.
Completed in 2020, the Valentine provides 321 student beds in a T-shaped block, surrounded by courtyard gardens.
It also features 269m2 of flexible communal space, including a cinema, gaming rooms, gym, private study rooms and a large kitchen-bar area. Tide developed and built the scheme, working closely with the local planning authority and HTA Design LLP to create a building sympathetic to the local architectural character.
The Valentine also ably demonstrates three intrinsic advantages of volumetric delivery: safety, sustainability and efficiency. The use of factory methods reduced embodied carbon by 4,489 tonnes, and also minimised the need for site personnel, with the result that the scheme could be completed safely in just 11 months during the pandemic.
Academics from the University of Cambridge and Edinburgh Napier University compared the environmental impact of The Valentine’s volumetric delivery to an equivalent in-situ reinforced-concrete construction, and Royal Institution of British Architects (RIBA) and London Energy Transformation Initiative (LETI) targets.
The sustainability benefits of Tide’s volumetric delivery system were key drivers for Crosstree’s acquisition of The Valentine. We are extremely proud that the scheme meets the highest ESG credentials, achieving BREEAM Excellent while setting strong architectural standards, which align with our own drive and focus on sustainable investment.
It was important for the development to make a positive contribution to the area by strengthening the sense of character and place. The building’s complex massing – ranging from three to 10 storeys – responds to the local context, while particular emphasis has been placed on authentic finishes.
The high-quality stone and brickwork, combined with gold-coloured aluminium inset screens for shading and privacy, show that volumetric construction can be indistinguishable from other construction systems.
Restrictions introduced in March 2020 to slow the rate of Covid-19 infections led to housebuilders downing tools on sites that collectively amounted to 250,000 homes. Property agent Knight Frank predicted that the supply of new private homes would drop by 35% due to reduced onsite activity.
As a result, offsite developers such as Tide played an important role in housing delivery, which is continuing post-pandemic.
The resilience of modern methods of construction has been demonstrated during the coronavirus crisis. Combined with the other benefits of MMC such as faster delivery, better quality, improved building efficiency, reduced waste and time-on-site, this resilience will see momentum behind offsite manufacturing continue to grow as we enter the recovery phase.
By building using the volumetric system, the development programme can be drastically reduced. Although volumetric units account for most of the total building area, they can be installed much more efficiently as per the diagram below:
