{"id":745809,"date":"2024-06-23T22:59:09","date_gmt":"2024-06-23T21:59:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.architectsjournal.co.uk\/?p=745809"},"modified":"2024-06-23T22:59:09","modified_gmt":"2024-06-23T21:59:09","slug":"aj100-champion-2024-hta-design","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.architectsjournal.co.uk\/news\/aj100-champion-2024-hta-design","title":{"rendered":"AJ100 Champion 2024: HTA Design"},"content":{"rendered":"<p class=\"p2\">Embracing volumetric projects is part of HTA\u2019s push to embed sustainability in every aspect of its operations. <span class=\"s1\">Speaking from the practice\u2019s east London office, managing partner Simon Bayliss and partner Simon Toplis point to a study they did with the universities of Cambridge and Napier that showed several of its volumetric projects cut embodied carbon by 40 per cent compared with traditional building methods. <\/span>Volumetric projects are \u2018more faithful to what we draw in the earliest stages, which is much more rewarding, Toplis says. \u2018And \u2013 selfishly \u2013 the fact we see our buildings delivered more quickly is hugely gratifying.\u2019<\/p>\n<p class=\"p2\">Other environmental benefits include reduced energy use on site, lower construction waste and more energy-efficient buildings.<\/p>\n<p class=\"p2\">The practice has just attained B Corp certification, has set up an in-house sustainability team, and has been using AI to improve microclimate planning, among a raft of other recent initiatives.<\/p>\n<p class=\"p2\">Their latest volumetric project, the 937-flat College Road in Croydon, was completed in October last year after 28 months, and at 163m is the tallest modular scheme in Europe.<\/p>\n<p class=\"p2\">College Road is a co-living scheme, meaning residents have self-contained flats that are complemented by communal facilities. In this case, that includes a spa, a \u2018sky garden\u2019 and even a podcast studio.<\/p>\n<p class=\"p2\">Advocates claim that co-living is a useful bulwark against widespread loneliness in big cities. HTA is currently onsite with two more co-living schemes, in Kingston and Acton.<\/p>\n<p class=\"p2\">\u2018Co-living is a really interesting idea,\u2019 says Bayliss, and though \u2018it\u2019s not going to solve the housing crisis, it\u2019s a very interesting component\u2019.<\/p>\n<p class=\"p2\">Toplis says they like to conduct post-occupancy evaluations, part of a wider focus on the experience residents have of their buildings. Toplis himself stayed and worked in College Road for three days after it was built.<\/p>\n<p class=\"p2\">And on the Aylesbury Estate regen\u00aderation that HTA is masterplanning for Southwark Council, the project team presented their work in a relaxed setting and used engaging design processes as part of efforts to get to know the local residents. Bayliss says: \u2018They\u2019d bring their grandma and their mum. People would just talk and we just soaked up all that knowledge.\u2019<\/p>\n<p class=\"p2\">\u2018It also built a level of understanding that wasn&#8217;t just about us standing next to boards with big plans that no one understood,\u2019 Toplis adds.<\/p>\n<p class=\"p2\">The Aylesbury itself \u2013 a multi-phase, controversial regeneration that is not scheduled to finish until 2036, is \u2018a complicated project, a big problem,\u2019 Bayliss says. Work on part of the scheme stalled earlier this year when a disgruntled current resident won a High Court battle. Bayliss says they \u2018remain committed\u2019 to the scheme.<\/p>\n<p class=\"p2\">The last year has been challenging in some ways, due in part to a difficult housing market and new regulation such as the second staircase rule. HTA has about 20 fewer people on its staff compared with a year ago, having made its first redundancies in over 10 years.<\/p>\n<p class=\"p2\"><span class=\"s1\">\u2018But the key point as a practice,\u2019 Bayliss says, \u2018notwithstanding the economic conditions, is that you can never let up in your efforts to keep moving on.\u2019<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p2\">HTA literally moved on in 2023, relocating its London office to a Victorian warehouse in Hackney Wick, north-east London. The practice also moved its Bristol office to a space with a \u2018similar ethos\u2019 to its London, Manchester and Edinburgh locations.<\/p>\n<p class=\"p2\">HTA this year won the AJ100 Employer of the Year award for the third year running, and says a key part of that success is its diversity. The practice hired an outreach lead last year to engage with local communities.<\/p>\n<p class=\"p2\"><span class=\"s1\">Asked why diversity was important for architects, Toplis says: \u2018We\u2019re designing for everybody. I think the designs we come up with together are much richer because architects are a diverse group.\u2019 <\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Embracing volumetric projects is part of HTA\u2019s push to embed sustainability in every aspect of its operations. Speaking from the practice\u2019s east London office, managing partner Simon Bayliss and partner Simon Toplis point to a study they did with the universities of Cambridge and Napier that showed several of its volumetric projects cut embodied carbon &#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3723,"featured_media":745813,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_oasis_is_in_workflow":0,"_oasis_original":0,"ep_exclude_from_search":false},"categories":[681],"tags":[101045,1996],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v21.0 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>AJ100 Champion 2024: HTA Design<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"HTA Design, the housing specialist ranked 18th in this year\u2019s AJ100, is an enthusiastic advocate of volumetric construction because projects can be built faster, for less money and with much less embodied carbon\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.architectsjournal.co.uk\/news\/aj100-champion-2024-hta-design\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_GB\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"AJ100 Champion 2024: HTA Design\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"HTA Design, the housing specialist ranked 18th in this year\u2019s AJ100, is an enthusiastic advocate of volumetric construction because projects can be built faster, for less money and with much less embodied carbon\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.architectsjournal.co.uk\/news\/aj100-champion-2024-hta-design\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"The Architects\u2019 Journal\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2024-06-23T21:59:09+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/cdn.rt.emap.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2024\/06\/20092714\/5.TIDE_College-Road_Exteriors-%40-Taran-Wilkhu-768x1024.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"768\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"1024\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Kit Heren\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@MaryDouglasAJ\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Mary Douglas\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Estimated reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.architectsjournal.co.uk\/news\/aj100-champion-2024-hta-design\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.architectsjournal.co.uk\/news\/aj100-champion-2024-hta-design\",\"name\":\"AJ100 Champion 2024: HTA Design\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.architectsjournal.co.uk\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2024-06-23T21:59:09+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2024-06-23T21:59:09+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.architectsjournal.co.uk\/#\/schema\/person\/ace0be042b48caccc64dbec893829157\"},\"description\":\"HTA Design, the housing specialist ranked 18th in this year\u2019s AJ100, is an enthusiastic advocate of volumetric construction because projects can be built faster, for less money and with much less embodied carbon\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.architectsjournal.co.uk\/news\/aj100-champion-2024-hta-design#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-GB\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.architectsjournal.co.uk\/news\/aj100-champion-2024-hta-design\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.architectsjournal.co.uk\/news\/aj100-champion-2024-hta-design#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.architectsjournal.co.uk\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"AJ100 Champion 2024: HTA Design\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.architectsjournal.co.uk\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.architectsjournal.co.uk\/\",\"name\":\"The Architects\u2019 Journal\",\"description\":\"Architecture News &amp; 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