黑洞社区

Is there a new building in your city you鈥檙e gagging to have a look around? For many construction professionals working in Edinburgh, the Informatics Forum holds that sort of fascination. Architect Bennetts Associates has included all sorts of novel design features to make a bright modernist statement within the traditional Edinburgh university campus, and it has also managed to obtain a BREEAM 鈥渆xcellent鈥� rating.

But as it鈥檚 one of the world鈥檚 top five research centres in a particularly complex branch of IT, it鈥檚 usually only open to computer geeks. Fortunately for newcomers to Edinburgh鈥檚 construction industry, 黑洞社区鈥檚 Phase One event gave them the chance to have a look around.

So on a Thursday evening two weeks ago, they assembled at the Forum to debate the building鈥檚 merits, swap business cards with contacts from across the industry, grill our speakers and enjoy a drink or two.

John Miller, Bennetts鈥� project director, led a rapturous crowd on tours of the building and spoke about its unique design features 鈥� such as the atrium where the world鈥檚 top IT brains can fly their robots.

Attendees also got to hear from the head of one of the largest regeneration projects in Scotland, Colin Hunter. As chief executive of Waterfront Edinburgh, he鈥檚 got the task of regenerating 120 acres of Granton over the next 30 years, and he was refreshingly candid about the challenges. 鈥淭he Granton market has completely stalled now,鈥� he said. 鈥淭he more traditional method of funding is going to be in difficulty for a number of years, and we鈥檒l have to look at new models.鈥�

The different communal spaces are really interesting. I wouldn鈥檛 mind having them in our offices, but you just don鈥檛 get that in commercial property

Kate Tilley, WSP

Sustainability would be planned in from the start, Hunter promised, revealing a very handy method for judging sustainable communities. 鈥淚 use the two-pint rule. Can you walk for a pint of milk and a pint of beer within five minutes? There's lots of places you can鈥檛 do that and they have no sense of community.鈥�

Miller tells his tale

The Informatics Forum building at Edinburgh university had been officially open for just one day when 黑洞社区 invited the industry鈥檚 new professionals for their exclusive tour. Bennetts鈥� John Miller (above) kindly devoted his evening to showing Phase One attendees round the 拢42m building and answering their many questions.

The informatics department鈥檚 550 staff had already moved into the building and begun their work investigating information systems and, intriguingly, building robots. Miller pointed out a double-height sliding door opening out onto the central atrium. 鈥淭hat鈥檚 the robotics laboratory, where they build robots that fly or swim. When they鈥檙e building the flying ones, they can test them in here.鈥�

The Informatics Forum project was about 30 years in the making. Originally the location of a dental hospital, the Forum鈥檚 site operated as a car park for 30 years while the university battled with the city鈥檚 planners to be allowed to build there.

I really like the use of materials in the interior. It鈥檚 so well detailed. It鈥檚 not very remarkable from the outside, but I think that鈥檚 the intention

Justin Brown, Ryder Architecture

In 2002, a fire in the city鈥檚 Cowgate district destroyed a number of university buildings, and the informatics department was left without a home. The planners relented, and Bennetts won the competition to design the facility in 2005. Balfour Beatty built the present building, the first phase of the planned development, and it became one of the first buildings in Scotland to be built to achieve a BREEAM 鈥渆xcellent鈥� rating throughout the construction process.

The building may be used by scientists, but Bennetts Associates did not want to build a laboratory. The intention was to design a place where artists and scientists could work together 鈥� Miller describes it as an 鈥渋nteractive, buzzing space鈥�. This has been achieved by the many and varied meeting spaces hidden within the building, some decked out with colourful bean bags and chairs, others with artworks bequeathed to the Forum by Scottish sculptor Eduardo Paolotti.

There was even talk of including white boards in the lifts so the researchers could scribble down equations whenever inspiration struck.

The building鈥檚 different levels are linked by what Miller describes as 鈥渨ormholes鈥�, or more prosaically, prefabricated white spiral staircases that infiltrate the central atrium and surrounding passageways. He chose a mix of materials for the building鈥檚 interior, with concrete pillars, steel stairwells and timber panels. The timber lifts are encased in glass columns, exposing their mechanical elements. One Phase One architect commented that it was 鈥済entle high-tech鈥�, a friendly yet industrial addition to the building鈥檚 interior.

The Phase One tourists were most impressed by the building鈥檚 terrace, which affords views across the Edinburgh rooftops to Arthur鈥檚 Seat, the craggy hilltop that overlooks the Scottish capital. The impressive detailing extends to the outdoor area, with silvery columns of pre-cast crushed stone supporting a sheltered area.

It鈥檚 a good solution for the site 鈥� I don鈥檛 think you will get the full effect of the building from the outside until the last phase is built

Eleftheria Maravelaki, Allan Murray Architects

Miller praised the efforts of contractor Balfour Beatty in creating a sustainable building, and particularly in achieving the BREEAM rating. 鈥淢ajor contractors understand these things,鈥� he said.

鈥淐lients think it鈥檚 going to cost more, but contractors have brought it in and are very successful at it. BREEAM needs to move on. It needs to be more grown up and this is a part of it.鈥�

Bennetts may have finished the building but they鈥檙e not going home just yet.

Miller revealed plans for a rather in-depth post-occupancy evaluation. 鈥淲e鈥檙e really interested in finding out how the building works, but we鈥檙e going to take it a bit further. Because we designed spaces to try and promote informal interaction, we are using an architectural psychologist over the next year to try to find out whether that鈥檚 working. I think these feedback loops are something missing from a lot of our industry 鈥� you finish building and that鈥檚 it.鈥�

Outside eye

The Informatics Forum is an unusual treat for Edinburgh. On the exterior facade, the stonework鈥檚 the same as many buildings in the city, but when you come inside it鈥檚 a completely different kettle of fish. This should be used as an example of what BREEAM 鈥渆xcellent鈥� can be like. It was really interesting that John Miller was talking about getting an architectural psychologist to study how the building鈥檚 used. The results should be fantastic. Not a lot of people bother to see how a building鈥檚 working afterwards, but if all that information could be available to other practices and contractors afterwards they might be able to learn from it.