100-108 Lower Marsh, London

A full suite of performance analysis and assessment services 

The development of 100-108 Lower Marsh involves the demolition of nine two-storey buildings and the construction of a 66 bedroom hotel-led mixed use scheme, with retail and flexible use floor space with disabled parking and cycle parking. Working closely with the developer and the architect Kyson, Eight Associates was appointed as the sustainability consultant for the project at planning stage, responsible for a suite of performance analysis and assessment services: BREEAM Hotel preliminary assessment, BREEAM Retail preliminary assessment, SUDS and flood risk, daylight and sunlight impact assessment, energy assessment and overheating analysis.

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Set in the Lower Marsh Conservation Area, with excellent public transport options, the new building’s design consists of different heights, width of the blocks, and materials, to reinforce Lower Marsh’s distinctive character. Sustainable design standards are integral to the design, construction and operation of the development.

Following the ‘be lean, be clean, be green’ energy strategy and overheating and cooling hierarchy, Eight Associates worked with the design team to improve the u-values in the building fabric, and along with the CHP system specified for the development, to deliver 38% carbon emissions savings over Part L of Building Regulations.

The BREEAM pre-assessment has outlined that responsible construction practices will be implemented, with particular attention to waste management and procurement of materials. Eight Associates recommended that a green roof is implemented as a SuDS technique, to manage surface water on site, while also enhancing biodiversity and improving insulation within the building.

A number of strategies have been incorporated to future-proof the building design in terms of its adaptation to climate change. Design measures include implementation of resilient building materials to reduce material degradation from impacts of climate change, ensuring material efficiencies through building design and construction and implementing adaptability features. A flood response plan was created which incorporates measures to increase flood resilience under future climate change scenarios and to ensure provision of measures for future building users to implement, such as raising the height of plug sockets and specifying flood resistant material for the ground floor and basement areas.

The aim of the Daylight and Sunlight Impact Assessment was to minimise the impact of the proposed development to the daylight and sunlight experienced by the neighbouring residential properties. BRE guidance was used to assess and minimise the daylight and sunlight impacts, using the Vertical Sky Component (VSC) methodology. A previous site survey and drawings of existing properties were used to identify the habitable rooms of existing residential properties including which of them are single aspect and as such, most vulnerable to the loss of light.Lower Marsh

The daylight and sunlight analysis concluded that the impact can be considered to be ‘minor’ as the majority of the existing habitable windows are line with the BRE daylight and sunlight targets for dense urban environments. Eight Associates’ analysis influenced the design of the development to minimise the loss of light to the neighbouring properties by introducing a gap between the proposed development and the existing building to allow more daylight to enter the existing windows. With regard to overshadowing, Eight Associates used the BRE Guide to demonstrate the proposed development will not affect the sunlight on the roof terrace of the adjacent property.

The scheme was unanimously approved by Lambeth Council at the Planning Applications Committee meeting in April 2017.