This Newcastle-based practice has built a reputation around the development of digital design services alongside project commissions, with a particular focus on harnessing the benefits of BIM. CEO Rob Charlton explains its ethos to Laura Shadwell
North east based architectural practice Space Group was founded in 1957 in Newcastle upon Tyne, under the name Waring and Netts Partnership. Quick to move with the technological times, the firm has evolved and innovated over the last 30 years to now offer BIM services and advice, as well as continuing to design projects worldwide.
After working as an architectural practice only for many years, and changing their name to Space Architects in the process, increases in workload meant a need to expand but also diversify. A shortage of architects in the early 2000s led the practice to invest in design software to improve efficiency, and in 2002 they committed to going with Revit BIM software – which had just been bought by Autodesk at that juncture.
With BIM fully adopted throughout the practice, clients became more and more interested in learning about the project design co-ordination software, and the benefits of integrating it into their businesses. In response to the growing demand for digital support among clients, and aware of the increase in design challenges facing the sector, Rob co-founded a dedicated consultancy, which he named BIM.Technologies, in 2011.
At a similar point in time, the practice – now retitled Space Group – created an in-house library of BIM objects to populate the 3D models. It quickly became apparent that there was potential for adapting this as a commercial platform, and Rob and fellow founding director Adam Ward launched bimstore in 2011, alongside BIM.Technologies.
As time went on, and BIM was becoming more regularly used within the industry, great designs were being produced using the software containing a lot of data that could be of use in other projects. Identifying a lack of a place to access this data, post projects’ completion, Space Group developed a ‘digital viewer’ – a digital representation of a physical environment that collects real time data – and this was later launched as a ‘digital twin’ two years ago, called Twinview.
Under the Space Group umbrella are four brands, which are closely connected and share the same strapline, “Making Buildings Better.” All four (Space Architects, BIM technologies, bimstore and Twinview), focus on using technology to innovate and improve outcomes, as Rob Charlton explains. “We see the challenges of the industry as opportunities. That’s the way we’ve always seen it – to help our clients address those issues.”
Each of the four brands continue to evolve and innovate within distinct strategies. Space Architects’ key goal is to standardise processes for their clients to reduce cost risk; BIM technologies is expanding into the smart building sector; bimstore is focused on building safety and how specifiers can understand manufacturers’ embodied carbon information. Twinview is more about people understanding the operational side of buildings on a global basis.
People & planet first
Rob states that Space’s focus as a business is “to make a positive impact on the planet and the communities in which we work,” and this is practically borne out in projects, but also in how the business operates.
Space Group was recently awarded B Corp certification in recognition of their social and environmental impact. “The certification aligned with a lot of the things we were already doing as a business,” explains Rob. “The award has been a great way for staff and clients alike to see how important issues relating to the impact on the planet are to us as an organisation.”
Employee engagement specialist firm Best Companies have also awarded Space Group a two star accreditation because of their ‘outstanding’ commitment to workplace engagement.
Identifying projects
In its early days in the 60s, the practice began with commissions in the social housing and civic buildings sectors. Over the years Space has diversified – in addition to working on a number of theatre refurbishments, the practice has identified one of its key strengths as working with schools and universities.
A couple of stand-out examples include the Farrell Centre Project for Newcastle University, where the practice reimagined a listed former department store as an ‘urban room’ – a cross between an art gallery, workspace and lecture room for the community to learn about their built environment. Driven by a £1m donation from acclaimed architect-planner Sir Terry Farrell, the centre is dedicated to “debating the future of architecture and cities.” With additional funding from the university, this new venue has been created on a key gateway into the city.
At Sunderland University, Space Architects is doing a lot of work across multiple sites to help them rationalise their estate; “They’re doing a lot of work in their medical school,” adds Rob, with one project, the Cadaveric Centre for anatomical research, having just been completed by the practice.
The practice also does a lot of work within the public sector, particularly refurbishment and listed buildings. They have a number of regular clients – including a national retailer – and provide technical advice to a couple of national housebuilders. Rob is keen to stress that as an architectural practice however they are “keen on serving their local communities.”
Approximately 80% of Space’s work comes from existing clients, with the remaining 20% given over to new work that particularly interests them. “We’re very focused on doing projects we enjoy and that inspire our team. We have got some great clients that we’ve worked with for years, and they’ve become friends; so they’re our priority,” comments Rob.
In recent years, Space’s design ‘signature’ has evolved to increasingly focus around “creative reuse,” an approach which embodies their commitment to the planet; “if you’re trying to minimise carbon then the best building for our clients is the one they’ve already got,” comments Rob. The practice is also proud of its “design optimisation approach,” meaning buildings can be standardised, making the process more efficient and “removing a lot of the waste,” says Rob. This is particularly applicable to working on school projects, he says, as the Department of Education (DfE) “know exactly what they want.”
Towards net zero
The business as a whole has set itself a target of being carbon neutral by the end of 2023 and zero carbon by 2030. Having tried to reduce their carbon use for many years, the new goal of being carbon neutral has been relatively easy; “you just spend more money on carbon credits,” explains Rob. However they have tried to do it properly without cutting corners; “we’ve tried to keep our carbon usage down, as well as offsetting.” Although the business is keen to support local new forest growth in the UK, Space Group admits this is a long-term aim which will take years to have any impact on the environment, so cannot be counted as a true ‘carbon credit.’ Instead, it supports the Ugandan forestry approach – which has an “immediate impact,” as much of the funding is used for sustaining the existing trees.
Getting the practice to zero carbon by 2030 “is where it gets really tough,” comments Rob. “Ultimately, for us that’ll mean generating raw electricity; but the tough area is working with our supply chain to deliver ‘scope three’ reductions, in which we use science-based targets to measure our carbon usage,” Rob continues.
Rob outlines some of the sustainability challenges that the practice has faced in projects, as well as the solutions it has identified. He explains that they are trying to use more timber in their projects. “Reducing concrete and steel has a massive impact on your embodied carbon footprint.”
The practice’s Twinview platform has identified that approximately “29% of energy use is carbon in operation,” he asserts. Rob admits that designers (themselves included) are often guilty of not fully understanding the impact that their designs have on day to day energy usage, and the organisation is investing in research into this area.
As part of being a socially responsible organisation, Space Group also hosts an annual conference called _shift, for clients, partners and design teams wanting to address the building sector’s role in reducing emissions and combating climate change.
Future goals
The practice as a whole will continue to focus its energies on mitigating the results of global warming, with the big focus around reducing embodied carbon within the business itself. It harnesses the potential of Twinview to help clients find ways to reuse the built resources they have.
As constructing a building from scratch is resource-heavy, Rob reiterates the resulting – and challenging – proposition for architects to offer their clients: “Is there really a need for a new building?” Only once this has been interrogated and retrofitting an existing building isn’t an option, should building new be pursued, says Space Group. And that should be a building that is as sustainable as possible, to help futureproof the planet.