Max Fordham LLP

The first phase of works on the restoration and redevelopment of Moseley Road Baths is set to begin this month. The historic building is one of the UK’s oldest Grade II* listed swimming baths. We're working alongside architects Donald Insall Associates on this project. "Moseley Road Baths is a beautiful building that we have been involved with over a long period of time, starting with reviewing how we might take it off the ancient steam boilers that still heat the pool. We're really excited to see this stunning community building restored and upgraded to make it fit for generations to come and take major steps towards becoming net zero carbon." - Iain Shaw, Director, MEP Engineering, Max Fordham. Read more: https://bit.ly/4cQdc2S

We opened the doors to our Bristol office in 2013. Today the office has over 30 people with a range of skills covering engineering, sustainability, building performance, acoustics, Passivhaus, and digital design. From Spike Island to Tate St Ives to Bristol Old Vic, we’ve delivered many of the most prominent and prestigious cultural venues in Bristol and the southwest. Our focus is on low-carbon buildings, both new and retrofit, and we are experienced in embodied carbon analysis and delivering net zero carbon buildings. We’re also working on community housing, educational, and commercial developments that prioritise occupants’ health and wellbeing. 🎥: Dion Barrett

All of us at Max Fordham are deeply committed to having a positive environmental impact and as a practice we have signed up to the rigorous Science Based Targets Initiative. This means creating emissions reduction targets in line with the latest climate science to achieve the objectives of the Paris Agreement seeking to limit global warming to well under 2⁰C. This requires that we reduce our Scope 1 and 2 emissions by 46% by 2030 and seek to reduce our Scope 3 emissions. Read our full 2023 report here: https://bit.ly/3yL8AgD

💡 When it comes to lighting design, how can we ensure that we're making sustainable choices when manufacturers are at different stages of their sustainability journeys? In our latest blog, Principal Lighting Design Specialist, Gillian Pyatt, explores the ways that we can take more responsibility by designing differently. "Recently, our sustainability team asked if I could create an internal resource on sustainable lighting manufacturers. Whilst scrolling through many lighting manufacturers websites it became immediately apparent that there is a huge disparity in the level of seriousness sustainability is being taken between manufacturers. "For some leading the way, there is full disclosure – TM65 and TM66 information is prepared and readily available, for others there is a sustainability statement on their website claiming that they are taking sustainability seriously, that their factories have PV panels and that they take their employees’ health and wellbeing seriously, for others, there is nothing, no mention of the environment, circularity or embodied carbon or even a pathway towards achieving net zero. "So how can we compare one lighting manufacturer's sustainability credentials with others when they are all at different stages in their sustainability journey and the quality of their published information is too difficult to intelligently compare? Can we take more responsibility by designing differently?" Read the full blog here: https://bit.ly/3At7yGt

Since opening in 2012, our Manchester office has grown to over 25 people from MEP, digital design and acoustic engineers, to sustainability and Passivhaus consultants, and office and project administrators. As a diverse collection of people who enjoy working together, the office has a friendly and relaxed feel. Our people also choose to spend time together outside office hours, including as part of hiking and running groups, playing five-a-side football, and having regular team lunches and evening socials. We're proud of the projects we’ve been involved in, including the stunning refurbishment of Rochdale Town Hall, the decarbonisation of the Science and Industry Museum, the multi-award-winning Hallé St Peter's, and the sensitive development of Wentworth Woodhouse, to name just a few. Read more about our practice at www.maxfordham.com 🎥 : Dion Barrett

In this blog, Sara Kheradmand compares her experience of working on two Passivhaus projects from an MEP Engineer’s perspective - a private house in Dundee and a development of three blocks of flats in Lewisham for Peabody housing association. Read Sara's blog here 👉 https://bit.ly/3YJic62

We are delighted to share that the new gardens at the Natural History Museum are now open to visitors! 🦕 🌿 We provided MEP, architectural lighting and acoustics services for this project, which has seen five acres of green space transformed into two outdoor galleries. Lighting Fern, the new cast of the Museum’s much-loved Diplodocus, was a particular pleasure for our team, as the carefully positioned spotlights make the bronze skeleton sparkle in the undergrowth and create dramatic dinosaur shadows that play across the Museum walls. The transformation of the site is part of the Museum’s Urban Nature Project, responding to the urgent need to monitor and record changes to UK urban nature and support its recovery. As well as a place for visitors to explore the diversity of life on Earth, the gardens are a living laboratory, and one of the most intensively studied urban nature sites of its kind in the world.  Creating a sustainable design that works with the landscape and taking an ambitious approach to sustainable construction – from a diesel-free site and no waste sent to landfill to harvesting rainwater for the plants – has been at the heart of the redevelopment. The Museum’s Wildlife Garden was extended to double the area of native habitats within the grounds and the pond area has been increased by 60%, to better support the animal and plant life diversity. Collaborating closely with Feilden Fowles (who led the transformation), landscape architects J&L Gibbons GITTA GSCHWENDTNER LTD and engineersHRW, we were proud to be part of this design team. Read more about this fantastic project here: https://bit.ly/4fGYFcj

Introducing our Edinburgh office! Founded in 2003 in the city’s New Town with a team of just four people, today our Edinburgh office has more than 50 people specialising in engineering, sustainability, digital design, building performance modelling, building administration, lighting design, and Passivhaus. The initial team of four worked on Edinburgh (Telford) College, with further projects quickly following such as the John Hope Gateway Centre at the Royal Botanic Gardens Edinburgh, and the National Museum of Scotland on Chambers Street. The office now works on projects across Scotland, the rest of the UK, and in Scandinavia, from Oriam in Edinburgh, to Burridge Gardens in London, and Ravelin Sports Centre in Portsmouth. As with all of our offices, the Edinburgh team work closely with our four other offices to collaborate and share knowledge. We hope this short film gives you an insight into what drives our Edinburgh team. For more information about the office, people and projects: https://bit.ly/3SG2aGi 🎥: Dion Barrett

This Passivhaus project in Southend-on-Sea helps homeless people get back into independent living with joy and dignity and has been awarded the RIBA East Sustainability Award and the AJ Architecture Awards Housing Project (up to £5 million). Completed in November 2022, it provides an additional 50 beds through a renovated terrace of properties and a new Passivhaus-certified, gas-free mews-style housing development to the rear of the site. Bluebird has been delivered through the drive and determination of homelessness charity, Homeless Action Resource Project (HARP), with the assistance of their long-term architects, SKARCHITECTS. HARP has sought to make sustainable choices wherever possible, resulting in a gas-free approach to the new build with six air source heat pumps that serve the heating and hot water requirements. Bluebird has incorporated a number of wider considerations which contribute to the overall sustainability of the development. The main structure of the building is a twin-stud timber frame incorporating Warmcel recycled newspaper insulation. Conscious materials have been used including natural cork boards which allow residents to make the space their own, and Cradle to Cradle certified materials including the carpet which is Bronze Certified. Read more 👉 https://lnkd.in/eKzKTiFs

"Every living organism is affected by natural or artificial lighting differently: flora is drawn towards sunlight and harnesses the energy to photosynthesize; fauna can be negatively impacted by artificial lighting; while people experience both positive and negative aspects of natural and artificial lighting. "In some instances, the absence of light or the creation of contrast and shadows can be considered good lighting design. Fundamentally, good lighting design achieves what is required by the end user, or, to use a common phrase, 'beauty is in the eye of the beholder'." From our journal - Senior Lighting Design Specialist, Henry Li, explores the importance of beautiful lighting 💡 Read the full article here: https://bit.ly/3WRFvJm