Kingswood Civic Centre

South Gloucestershire

A major refurbishment of the 1970s Kingswood Civic Centre into modern energy efficient office accommodation. The Civic Centre also houses the One Stop Shop which had to be kept open during the refurbishment works necessitating careful phasing. There are numerous similar buildings of this type, often tired and inefficient environmentally; the upgrading and re-use of these existing buildings is true sustainable design. The solution was to investigate the existing building, both by inspection and by looking at historic records to best understand how to approach the refurbishment. The investigations showed that the walls were not load bearing and that there was an elegant first floor concrete structure which could be used to provide exposed thermal mass. The thermal performance of the building envelope was increased and more natural light was introduced into spaces such as the Council Chamber, all of which help to make big reductions in the running cost of the building.