Red Kite House
We were briefed to design a new headquarters for the Environment Agency that was at the forefront of sustainable design. Red Kite House is one of two ‘Gateway’ buildings into the business park and the first to be delivered from our masterplan.
Our designs for the building, together with its sister building, Kestrel House are curved in plan. Providing suitable impact on entry into the park.
Challenging the institutional norm of a ‘four pipe fan coil’ approach, we incorporated integrated wind turbines on the roof to support natural ventilation via automatic openable windows. This was the first office building in the UK to use turbines for this purpose. Natural air flows benefit from the curved plan formation of the buildings
The building achieved a BREEAM 'Excellent' rating, with carbon emissions 26% below that outlined in the Department of the Environment’s benchmark standard. We incorporated a number of best practice environmental features including photovoltaic cells integrated within the brise soleil, solar thermal water heating, rainwater harvesting, exposed soffits, heat insulating glass, sustainable drainage from the car parks and optimum use of natural light.
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