According to a new report from Cedral UK, 48% of architects admitted that they expect sustainability measures they are introducing on current new builds to be out of date within 15 years.
Architects’ and specifiers’ eagerness to embrace more sustainable building materials for home exteriors is being hampered by a complex regime of safety regulations and poor communication across the supply chain. according to a new report published by Cedral UK.
Cedral surveyed 250 industry professionals for the report entitled Building the Future which examines the construction industry’s attitudes towards emerging design trends, sustainability and meeting the UK’s chronic housing needs. The 30 page study highlights some of the key trends within the facade sector, which is working hard to balance the need for creativity, while adhering to a swathe of new legislation from the Building Safety Regulator.
Cost of materials (65%) and overall cost of construction (62%) were seen as external obstacles to building innovation as well as a lack of product standardisation (35%) and poor training on sustainable construction principles (34%).
The vast majority of respondents (96%) said that climate change was changing facade design and specification choices with 59% saying this affected material choice, 56% placing greater importance on insulation and 41% using surrounding planting. Interestingly, over a third of architects now give more consideration to a project’s orientation, given the impact of wind, rain and sun on the building’s performance.
40% of respondents agreed that ‘living facades’ (made from plants and vegetation) was becoming a major trend in urban design. Smart facades (39%), minimalisation (32%) and industrial cladding (29%) were also cited as important developments that would become more popular over the next three years. Nearly a third (32%) of architects also predicted a return to natural materials such as brick, stone or other low-carbon materials such as fibre cement cladding.
New builds is a major area of expansion identified by the report, which confirms that more than three quarters (77%) of architects expect to see an increase in the number of new build projects in the next two years.
However, this rush to new developments should be tempered by the expected rise in refurbishment and retrofit projects. Although just 30% of respondents have noticed an increase in this type of project over the last five years, the trend towards improving the aesthetics and performance of existing buildings is gathering pace. 31% of architects also expect to see more cladding retrofit projects due to the UK government’s ongoing commitment to facade remediation projects among high rise residential buildings.
Even though several major modular construction specialists have failed in recent months, architects still believe that the factory-based assembly of houses can still deliver high quality, energy efficient, affordable homes. Moreover, 50% of respondents confirmed that their practices had seen an increased focus on modern methods of construction (MC) over the last five years. Looking ahead, almost 4 in 5 (78%) of respondents agreed that harnessing off-site construction will be come more important for them in the next 1-2 years.