Overview

One Brighton is a mixed-use development in the New England Quarter of Brighton, offering 172 eco-homes plus office spaces and areas for community use. The development reflects the One Planet Living® principles of sustainability, which aim to make green living easy, attractive and affordable.

Construction work on One Brighton began in September 2007, with the first residents expected to move in during April 2009. One Brighton will be a place where people can live high-quality, sustainable lifestyles with significantly reduced carbon footprints.

The development shows that buildings can be sustainable and offer exemplary architectural design at the same time. A zero carbon energy strategy underpins the whole development, from choosing sustainable construction materials to using renewable energy sources. Once the development is complete, services such as a car club, rooftop allotments and recycling facilities will make it easy for residents to adopt green lifestyle practices.

One Brighton is the first development from Crest Nicholson BioRegional Quintain LLP, a joint venture company that combines the sustainable community development expertise of BioRegional Quintain Ltd with the home building experience of Crest Nicholson PLC. Peter Halsall, Managing Director of BioRegional Quintain, says: “We seek to create great places, good-quality and well-built homes, shops and offices, real communities and community spirit, as well as to make it easy and affordable to live a ‘green’ lifestyle.”

Summary

• One Brighton uses One Planet Living® principles

• The residential designs achieved the EcoHomes ‘excellent’ rating

• 98% of household waste to be diverted from landfill by 2020

• At least a quarter of the construction materials are from recycled sources

» Background

Background

One Planet Living

According to research from environmental charity World Wildlife Fund (WWF), we are collectively living beyond our means and would need the equivalent of 1.2 planets to continue to support ourselves at today’s rates of consumption. In response to this, WWF teamed up with BioRegional Development Group to develop One Planet Living®, a framework for achieving a sustainable future where everyone lives within their fair share of the Earth’s resources. The principles include producing zero carbon and waste, using sustainable transport and sourcing food and materials locally.

Involving the community

One Brighton is built on brownfield land adjacent to Brighton railway station. When the site became available for development, a local community organisation approached BioRegional Development Group to see if it was of interest to them. The community group knew of BioRegional’s involvement in the BedZED eco-village in London and were keen for the brownfield site to be developed in a similarly eco-friendly way.
The local community has continued to be involved in the development of the One Brighton concept. Local people teamed up with the developers to form a steering group for the project, discussing topics such as how the One Brighton community would be governed.

» The Impact

Overview «

The Impact

Zero carbon approach

One Brighton has a zero carbon energy strategy, which means that it seeks to reduce energy demands and to supply all energy from renewable sources. The building fabric has a high thermal efficiency and a biomass boiler will provide heating and hot water. A portion of the electricity demands will be met by rooftop solar panels. A dedicated community energy services company will manage the onsite energy generation equipment, purchase renewable energy from external sources and monitor consumption across the development. The building also features best practice recycling facilities that will help residents meet a goal of diverting 98 per cent of waste from landfill by 2020.

Brighton & Hove City Council’s development brief required a 40 per cent reduction in carbon emissions, based on a locally-set benchmark, but One Brighton will actually deliver a 95 per cent reduction. Martin Randall, head of planning at Brighton & Hove City Council, describes the development as, “a real success for the city, the first of its kind in the country and indeed globally”.

Exceptional design

One Brighton demonstrates that large-scale, mainstream developments can be sustainable and offer exemplary architectural design. The eco-studios and apartments feature high-specification, energy-efficient lights, appliances and fittings, while sky gardens on every level provide communal space with views over Brighton.

The designs for the residential accommodation at One Brighton were given an EcoHomes ‘excellent’ rating and the non-residential areas meet the highest BREEAM environmental standard. One Brighton was a runner-up in the innovation category at the British Homes Awards 2007, where a judge commented: “If this is built as designed it will make tremendous progress in zero carbon development”.

» Good Practice

Background «

Good Practice

• Sustainable thinking is integrated into every aspect of the One Brighton project. Key people involved in the project, from designers to lawyers, attend a training session where they learn about the One Planet Living® approach. Construction staff have a ‘toolbox talk’ that explains the site’s sustainable practices, such as having different skips for different materials and the locally-sourced, healthy and sustainable food available in the site canteen. 

• The One Brighton development acknowledges that a large part of any building’s environmental impact comes from the lifestyle choices made by those who live in it. All residents will receive a Green Lifestyles Pack to help them make sustainable and informed choices. Design features such as rooftop mini allotments and food planters on balconies will make it easy for residents to grow their own food, while the One Brighton car club will encourage people to drive less by providing pay-as-you-go access to vehicles. The only parking available within the development will be for disabled users, car club vehicles and bicycles.

• Creating a strong sense of community is an important part of the One Brighton project. Residents will be able to join a community governance organisation and an extranet will provide useful information and services such as booking car club vehicles and ordering local food boxes. Local people will also be able to learn about sustainability at the One Brighton community centre. 

• Clear project targets and ongoing monitoring will enable the developers to assess progress in achieving their One Planet Living® goals. Monitoring will cover building performance, the uptake of One Brighton’s sustainable services and the satisfaction of residents.

» Reference

The Impact «

Reference

Contact details

Nick James
Sustainability Projects Manager
020 7478 9375
nick.james@bioregional-quintain.com

BioRegional Quintain Ltd
16 Grosvenor St
London
W1K 4QF

External links

One Brighton
One Planet Living
BioRegional Quintain
Crest Nicholson

Good Practice «