INTEGER News

Thursday 9 October 2006

INTEGER Education Consultants develop New Resource

INTEGER education consultants, Enabling Concepts, who developed the INTEGER Education Programme, have worked in partnership with the University of Salford to deliver nD Game. This interactive computer game teaches pupils about designing and constructing buildings by enabling them to build their own virtual school.

The game was developed by the University of Salford and aims to change pupils' perceptions of construction. See www.nDgame.org for more details.

WeDnesday 17 May 2006

INTEGER Delivering a view of sustainability for China

INTEGER China has just completed its first intelligent & green project in mainland China. Expo INTEGER Kunming is the first eco-town in southern China, with an emphasis on sustainable lifestyle, environmental protection and intelligent technology. The project aims to provide a focal point for the improvement of housing standards and building technology in the context of China. It will develop a sustainable housing and lifestyle model appropriate for the urbanization of the western region in China.

INTEGER is working with supplier partners and university research partners to test new products and solutions, adopt appropriate and available technologies for the western region of China and to evaluate their effectiveness. The visitor centre will play a crucial role in informing the public of the need for sustainable development and the role that technology can play in achieving it.

For more details of the Kunming project visit projects section of this website.

MoNDay 19 December 2005

Strategies to deliver Environmental Excellence in Housing

Nick Thompson chaired another successful INTEGER seminar in November on strategies to deliver environmental excellence in housing. Eddy Taylor of London Borough of Croydon returned to INTEGER to fill us in on how Croydon is doing one year on from introducing their planning conditions requiring all new schemes in the Borough to meet specified environmental performance standards. This has led to mixed responses from developers who are learning and responding to the new challenge.

Nigel Ingram from the Joseph Rowntree Foundation gave an overview of the Derwenthorpe community in York, which will not only meet environmental sustainability criteria but also have a strong focus on social and economic sustainability through mixed tenures, pedestrian friendly design and effective integration with the existing local communities. Casimir Iwaszkiewicz from Beyond Green gave an overview of the plans to turn the proposed Harlow North development into a sustainable community by taking an holistic approach to environmental sustainability. Luke Englebeck from Studio Englebeck looked at how plants can be used to enhance the built environment through innovative measures such as roof gardens and using plants as facades.

Peter Colebrook of i&i limited presented Carbonomics his latest tool for analysing the cost implications of carbon reduction. This tool measures the impact in terms of carbon reduction for every pound spent on carbon reduction measures. This will enable housing providers to choose the most cost effective ways of meeting their carbon reduction aims. Craig Anders of Cole Thompson Anders gave an overview of the design strategies INTEGER is employing to deliver environmental excellence in Housing.

MoNDay 3 October 2005

Delivering Sustainable Communinties - Delivering Excellence

In September INTEGER held a one day seminar on Delivering Sustainable Communities: Delivering Excellence. INTEGER partners Your Homes Newcastle, LPC Living, Swan Housing Group and English Partnerships all contributed to the seminar. The key message from the event was the need to engage with people. People underpin sustainability.

Chris Mills of Your Homes Newcastle highlighted the challenges facing regeneration in Newcastle, the problems of decades of initiatives that have gone nowhere and the very real need to deliver successful and sustainable regeneration. Warren Smith of LPC Living demonstrated how the private sector can successfully lead the way in regeneration initiatives. The work LPC are doing in terms of community engagement demonstrates the business case for engaging local communities in successful regeneration initiatives. If it didn’t add value, then LPC would not do it. Geoff Pearce from Swan Housing Association gave an overview of the work they are doing in the Thames Gateway, responding to very similar challenges of disillusioned local populations and the need to deliver sustainability.

Duncan Innes of English Partnerships gave an overview from the top—of how national delivery vehicles are trying to encourage sustainability. Craig Anders of Cole Thompson Anders gave an overview of how INTEGER is working with its partners to deliver sustainable communities through a variety of projects including Cruddas Park in Newcastle, Cross Street South in Wolverhampton and Talbot Way in Letchworth.

Friday 17 June 2005

Three new partners for the INTEGER Parntership

INTEGER is delighted to welcome on board three new partners - British Gypsum, Isle of Wight Council and Swan Housing Association.

British Gypsum was actively involved in the INTEGER Millennium House, providing plasterboard, which contributed to the significant reduction in wet trades at the house. British Gypsum also developed a prototype moveable wall which enables room sizes to be reconfigured quickly and without any need for redecoration. INTEGER will be working with British Gypsum to develop, demonstrate and mainstream innovative new products.

INTEGER will be working with Isle of Wight Council to ensure that new developments on the island are sustainable in social, economic and environmental terms.

Swan Housing Association was one of the orginial INTEGER partners who helped develop the ideas and rational behind the INTEGER Millennium House. Swan also developed an INTEGER pilot project of 12 two-bedroom INTEGER homes in Harlow. INTEGER will be working with Swan Housing Association to apply intelligent and green solutions to its new and existing housing stock.

Monday 18th April 2005

INTEGER Maidenhead wins design award

The 27-unit INTEGER development at Alpine Close in Maidenhead was the Overall winner in Category A: Large Schemes at the Royal Borough of Windsor and Maidenhead 2004 design awards. The award was presented to Bree Day Partnership, architects and i&i limited, IT consultants on the project. The award was presented on Monday 4th April at the Guildhall, Windsor.

Futurecare@home: A future caring society

The recent INTEGER Seminar Futurecare@Home: A Future Caring Society took place in February with the sponsorship of the Department of Health Housing Learning and Improvement Network. The event included contributions from Ian Donald, Consultant Geriatrician, Gloucester Royal Infirmary, asking the question "Are we ageing older, or just longer?". Nigel Appleton of Contact Consulting spoke of the need to think about what the building's eventual use in "Concept before Construction". Unfortunately Moyra Riseborough was unable to give her presentation on "Beyond Welfare. Who Pays for the Baby Boomers?" however a copy is available from our website. Georgina and John Truscott from Esk Moors Action for the Elderly provided "One Community's Vision" on a unique project designed to help older people to remain within their community in a remote area of the North Yorks Moors. Alan Kell talked about "Mainstreaming the Caring Home" how we deliver homes that respond to the changing needs of their occupants. Nick Thompson and Peter Colebrook provided an overview of the work INTEGER has been doing to mainstream innovative and caring homes.

Copies of all the presentations are available from the resources section of this website. The collection of papers is available from the Housing LIN website.

Friday 11th February 2005

Your Homes Newcastle - Taking Regeneration Forward

INTEGER partner Your Homes Newcastle has appointed an INTEGER team, including i&i limited, Cole Thompson Associates, Ryder HKS, LPC Living and Wates Construction to deliver an intelligent and green development plan for the Cruddas Park area of Newcastle. This area includes ten towerblocks of mixed tenure and client groups.

Wednesday 8th December 2004

INTEGER & Bromford Housing Group to create Intelligent & Green Housing in Wolverhampton

INTEGER partner Bromford Housing Group has won a competition from Wolverhampton Borough Council to create a 30-unit intelligent and green development in Wolverhampton. INTEGER very much looks forward to working with Bromford and other local partners to ensure that this scheme is sustainable in social, economic and environmental terms.

Friday 12 November 2004

Improving Quality Performance and Value in Housing

On Wednesday 10th November INTEGER was hosted by Kerry Pollard MP for St Albans in the House of Commons for the launch of the latest INTEGER publication. The publication was funded by the Housing Corporation and copies are available from the publications section of this website.

Monday 5 October 2004

Improving Quality Performance and Value in Housing

INTEGER's latest publication "Improving Quality Performance and Value in Housing - Performance Review and Impact Assessment" is now available.

Innovations from the five INTEGER pilot projects are moving into mainstream housing practice at a variable and unpredictable rate. This report has been produced with support from the Housing Corporation. It clearly and concisely reviews the performance and impact of the INTEGER pilot projecs to facilitate the transfer of proven innovation into mainstream housing.

See the publications section of this website to order a copy.

Friday 25 June 2004

INTEGEr at resource04

Some 100 participants took part in the INTEGER programme of workshops at resource04, with many more people visiting the INTEGER exhibition throughout the week. Members of the INTEGER Partnership were speaking at each day of the event and copies of their presentations are available for download from the resources section of this website.

Monday's workshop focused on the preliminary findings of the Housing Corporation funded Performance Review and Impact Assessment of the INTEGER pilot projects. Tuesday's workshop provided an opportunity to look at how intelligent and green buildings have evolved since the launch of the INTEGER Partnership eight years ago, examining the challenges presented to INTEGER in 1996, the progress that has been made to date and how INTEGER has helped this to happen. It also offered the opportunity to look to the future at the challenges and opportunities that now present themselves and how INTEGER plans to address these. The INTEGER workshop on Education and Schools had the highest level of attendance of the week and some lively discussion took place on how to transform the buildings in which we educate our children. On the Thursday Ben Papé from UK Trade & Investment led a workshop on International Opportunities, including how the INTEGER Hong Kong Pavilion had provided an international demonstration platform for the very best in British innovation. Allan McHale from i&i limited shared his 30 years of experience in monitoring the market for building controls, demonstrating where the greatest opportunities lie for energy control products at an international level.

INTEGEr 8th Anniversary

Around 60 guests joined us in the INTEGER Millennium House to celebrate the Eighth Anniversary of the INTEGER Partnership. Guests included the Australian Minister for Housing, Disability and Community Services along with many of those involved in the construction of the Millennium House.

 

Wednesday 26 May 2004

INTEGEr Partners' Meeting

The recent INTEGER Partners' Meeting on 'Delivering Performance & Value Over Time : Managing Whole Life Performance' was hosted by Ben Papé of UK Trade & Investment at the DTI Conference Centre. Speakers included the BRE Centre for Whole Life Performance, cost consultants Franklin & Andrews and CityWest Homes, providing a client's perspective. A lively discussion ensued about the challenges of whole life performance.

The afternoon provided our partners' with the opportunity to share some of their experiences. Westlea Housing Association recounted how they have applied the lessons from their INTEGER pilot scheme at Cherhill to subsequent projects including a 54 unit development at Calne and the 7 unit INTEGER development at Groundwell in Swindon. One of our newest partners, The Concrete Centre, gave an overview of the sustainability credentials of concrete. Peter Bonsall from INTEGER Ireland reported on the challenges and opportunities in the Republic of Ireland and how the INTEGER Ireland demonstration project is progressing.

Bromford Housing Group joins the INTEGER Partnership

INTEGER are pleased to welcome on board Bromford Housing Group as an INTEGER Partner. We very much look forward to working with Bromford to develop new and sustainable housing solutions.

Glastonbury House become Constructing Excellence Demonstration Project

Glastonbury House has passed the second stage in the process to become a Constructing Excellence demonstration project. The project will also feature as a case study in the DTI funded Sustainable Tower Blocks Initiative.

monday 16 February 2004

INTEGEr Partners' Meeting

The INTEGER Partners' Meeting on Sustainable Design and Construction : Challenges, Opportunities & Solutions took place on Wednesdat 28th January at BRE. The meeting was well attended in spite of severe weather warnings. This meeting provided an opportunity for INTEGER Partners to find out more about the work being carried out by BRE in key areas inlcuding sustainable waste management, the EcoHomes initiative, BRE's sustainable construction tools including Ecopoints and Green Guides and the Clear Skies Initiative. Updates were also provided by INTEGER on innovation strands including Care & Wellbeing, Taking Design Beyond Decent Homes, Cost & Value Analysis, Resident Consultation using VR Model and Managing the Refurbishment Process - Minimising Disruption, Maximising Value.

From February 2004 BRE are taking over the management of the INTEGER Millennium House. In essence this does not have any implications for INTEGER Partners as bookings for the Millennium House and the Glastonbury House demonstration project can still be made through INTEGER.

INTEGER Sandwell wins RTPI Award

The INTEGER project at Lyttleton Street, West Bromwich has received a commendation from the Royal Town Planning Institute President, Vincent Goodstadt at the RTPI West Midlands Branch Summer Reception in June 2003.

Monday 1 December 2003

Deputy Prime Minister Visits Glastonbury house

The Deputy Prime Minister, John Prescott, recently paid a visit to Glastonbury House, taking the opportunity to view the demonstration flats and chat with residents. The Deputy Prime Minster opened his speech to the Better Buildings Summit with the following endorsement of the project:

"This morning I visited Glastonbury House refurbishment project only a few minutes away from here. It is a 22-storey tower block in Pimlico which was built over 30 years ago and is a flagship project for innovative practices in four areas: the environment, the social innovation, construction innovation and technology. Once this project is completed, Glastonbury House will be the UK's first intelligent and green residential tower, clearly a truer, better building. The building is eco-friendly, designed with low energy from district heating and with a four-metre high wind turbine on the roof, which apparently caused problems for the planning body.

Water use is kept low with rainwater harvesting, spray taps and showers - you know most of those. Moreover, residents will be able to stay in the block during the construction, which is quite unique, and this shows that eco-friendly developments can be built into refurbishment programmes and even these old tower blocks. It was exciting, well liked by the residents, a sustainable community in a tower block, and I congratulate all those involved and recommend that you visit it."

 

Monday 20 October 2003

Classrooms of the Future WIN Building Sights Award

The Classrooms of the Future at the Lord Silkin School in Stirchley and the Wrockwardine Wood Junior School in Trench are the winners of the Building Sights Award 2003. The judges were particularly impressed by the involvement of the children in the design process and the quality of the feedback provided by the children. Building Sights is a joint initiative between the Arts Council of England and the Commission for Architecture and the Built Environment which aims to engage the public in the construction process.

Glastonbury House refurbishment gets planning permission

Full planning permission has been granted for the refurbishment of Glastonbury House with work due to commence on site early next year. The refurbishment will build upon the success of the INTEGER Westminster Towers programme of research and consultation. The project will pilot intelligent and green solutions to tower block refurbishment before they are rolled out across CityWest Homes' 22,000 unit housing stock. More details of the Glastonbury House refurbishment can be found on the projects section of this website.

 

Monday 6 October 2003

Education Minister Opens Classrooms of the Future

The Education Minister Charles Clarke attended the launch of the Classrooms of the Future in Telford and Wrekin on 23rd September 2003. The two classrooms at the Lord Silkin School in Stirchley and the Wrockwardine Wood Junior School in Trench were part of a Department of Education and Skills scheme to create twelve new prototype classrooms. Members of the INTEGER consultant team, BWP, Enabling Concepts, Cole Thompson Associates and i&i limited, worked on the project.

 

INTEGER Hong Kong Pavillion Moves to Beijing

The INTEGER Hong Kong Pavilion has been dismantled and is in the process of being relocated to the Central Business District in Beijing where it will become a Sustainable Energy Exhibition Centre. In its year in Hong Kong the pavilion hosted over 100,000 visitors including 30,000 students taking part in the INTEGER Education Programme. The use of modular construction techniques mean that the building can be fully dismantled and relocated easily with minimum pollution or environmental impact. The pavilion is expected to be erected in Beijing by the end of January 2004.

 

Wednesday 24 September 2003

Millennium House Saved from Demolition

St Albans City & District Council Planning Committee last week voted to grant permanent planning permission for the INTEGER Millennium House at Watford. The house was initially granted temporary planning permission which ran out a year ago. The committee voted 5 to 1 in favour of granting permanent planning permission.

 

Monday 28 july 2003

Minister for Housing Visits Glastonbury House

Yvette Cooper MP, the newly appointed Minister for Housing, visited the Glastonbury House demonstration project on 15th July 2003. She met with representatives of Westminster City Council and CityWest Homes. She is pictured here outside the block with some of the Glastonbury House residents.

 

Wednesday 16 july 2003

Hong Kong My INTEGER School Design Project Winners visit the UK

The My INTEGER School Design Project was launched by the British Council in January 2003. The project aimed to encourage Hong Kong secondary students to design new school spaces linked to the INTEGER themes of intelligent and green. Students were invited to create three spaces in their new school design; a space for inspiration, a space for learning and a space for students to be themselves.

Over 90 teams participated in the project which involved an online platform to exchange with UK students from four partner schools in Sandwell. The two winning teams, Delirium from St Stephen's Girls' College and SYSS-1 from Sing Yin Secondary School, are currently taking part in a ten-day INTEGER educational visit to the UK. The trip includes visits to the Glastonbury House demonstration project and the INTEGER Millennium House at Watford.

Monday 14 july 2003

INTEGER Partners' Meeting programme 2003/04

INTEGER are currently putting together the programme of partners' meetings for 2003/04. Themes which are currently being considered include:

• Community Development

• Customer Services to the Home

• Education & Training - Tackling the Skills Shortage

• Environmental Sustainability

• Health & Wellbeing

• Information & Communications Services to the Home

• Life Cycle Performance Management

• Security & Crime Prevention

• Sustainable Communities

If you are interested in or feel you would be able to contribute to any of the above themes please contact us by e-mail to integer@integerproject.co.uk or telephone 01923 665955.

 

Thursday 10 july 2003

Architectural Open Visit to Glastonbury House - 11 August 2003

Due to considerable interest from within the architectural community in viewing INTEGER's 'Intelligent and Green' refurbishment of Glastonbury House, Cole Thompson Associates who are the architects on the project, will hold an open visit at 2 p.m. on Monday 11 August. The visit is designed specifically for architects and will consist of an introductory talk in the exhibition space, followed by a viewing of the two show flats and lobby on the 19th floor. This should take approx. one and a half hours.

If you are an architect interested in attending please contact us by e-mail to integer@integerproject.co.uk or telephone 01923 665955 to reserve a place.

 

Friday 13 june 2003

INTEGER Research Review – Adding Value to Housing Refurbishment

INTEGER were hosted by the Right Worshipful the Lord Mayor of Westminster on 11th June for the concluding review of this year’s INTEGER research programme, focusing on the application of intelligent & green principles to housing refurbishment, within the context of the INTEGER Westminster Towers Programme. The meeting identified how progressive refurbishment strategies can improve the performance and the value of existing housing, while adding value to associated areas such as health and care, e-government, community development, and education and training.

This review represented the culmination of this year’s INTEGER action-research programme, which has been actively supported by CityWest Homes, Westminster City Council, the INTEGER partnership, and the DTI through its Partners In Innovation (PII) programme.

The outputs from the current research phase will be incorporated into the full refurbishment project for Glastonbury House, which will start on site later this year.

 

Thursday 29 May 2003

INTEGER Partners Meeting – Delivering Sustainable Communities – The INTEGER Manifesto

INTEGER recently held its quarterly partners meeting on Delivering Sustainable Communities – The INTEGER Manifesto. The meeting took place in the Jubilee Room in the House of Commons.

The Government has set the challenge for delivering sustainable communities. The INTEGER action research network has been leading the way in intelligent & green development since 1996. It is now time to bring these two agendas together to ensure that the communities we build over the next decade truly reflect and meet the needs of the 21st century.

In recent years the value of innovation has been demonstrated in many sectors. The challenge now is to combine these innovations in an effective way and to drive them forward into mainstream practice. INTEGER, with its wide range of leading-edge partners, is uniquely positioned to achieve this.

Themes which were addressed included design and construction for both new build and regeneration, intelligent services, environmental services, social aspects and innovation centres.

National Housebuilder Design Commendation for the INTEGER House in Newbury

The INTEGER House in Newbury received a commendation for Best House of the Future in the National Housebuilder Design Awards 2003. The house was completed in Spring 2001 and has since been rented out to a family on a two-year trial basis. It is the first INTEGER property to be offered for sale on the open market. More details of the INTEGER Newbury project are available in the projects section of this website.

 

Wednesday 23 April 2003

Civic Trust commendation for INTEGER Maidenhead Project

The INTEGER development at Alpine Close in Maidenhead received a commendation in The Civic Trust Awards 2003. The development for Maidenhead and District Housing Association opened in Autumn 2001 and was developed by the INTEGER professional team. More details of the INTEGER Maidenhead project are available in the projects section of this website.

 

Thursday 27 March 2003

INTEGER Partners Meeting – Providing Electronic Services to the Home

INTEGER recently held its quarterly Partners Meeting on the topic of Providing Electronic Services to the Home. With all government services to be available online by 2005 the big question is how do we get the connections into people’s homes? Electronic Services offer vast opportunities to combat social exclusion and revolutionise the provision of government services, if coordinated efforts are made to overcome the “digital divide”.

Speakers included representatives from the Office of the e-Envoy, the government department responsible for achieving e-government targets. Newham Online, a DfES Wired Up Communities project which provides free internet access to the residents of the Carpenters Estate. Citizens Online, a national charity which aims to combat social exclusion and the Internet. South Liverpool Housing Association, who are about to launch YourTV a broadband based digital TV service. Peter Colebrook, INTEGER Technology Director provided an overview of the technology strategies being employed at Glastonbury House .

 

Tuesday 25 February 2003

Beijing Olympics 2008

We can confirm that an INTEGER consortium has submitted a bid to be shortlisted for the Beijing Olympic Village and National Stadium.
At this time we cannot confirm or deny that the INTEGER consortium has been shortlisted for this project, since we are restricted by confidentiality agreements from issuing any further information.

We would note however that Beijing's goal of hosting a "Green Olympics", a "High-tech Olympics" and a "People's Olympics" is directly in line with INTEGER's strategies, which have been developed and tested over the past seven years in the UK and Hong Kong. These strategies combine intelligent & green building design with extensive social involvement to deliver buildings which meet the needs of the 21st century.

Web references: www.integerproject.co.uk, www.integer.com.hk, www.beijing-2008.org/eolympic/xay/xay_index.htm

Tuesday 28 January 2003

Due to considerable public interest in the INTEGER programme, we are pleased to announce tours of the both the INTEGER Millennium House at Watford and the INTEGER Demonstration Project at Glastonbury House, Pimlico. Times are as follows:

INTEGER Millennium House, Watford -

• Friday 14th February 2003 at 11.00 a.m.

• Friday 14th March 2003 at 11.00 a.m.

• Friday 11th April 2003 at 11.00 a.m.

Glastonbury House, Pimlico -

• Thursday 13th February 2003 at 4.00 p.m.

• Thursday 13th March 2003 at 4.00 p.m.

• Thursday 10th April 2003 at 4.00 p.m.

If you are interested in attending any of the above tours please contact us by e-mail to integer@integerproject.co.uk or telephone 01923 665955 to reserve a place.

 

Monday 30 September 2002

INTEGER is the UK’s leading action research network promoting innovation in housing through the use of intelligent and green technologies. INTEGER is committed to the idea that twenty-first century buildings must be intelligent and green, and that these major principles must be applied to the whole life-cycle of buildings.

INTEGER is partnering with CityWest Homes to apply these principles to the improvement of existing residential tower blocks and a range of sustainable and intelligent ideas for refurbishment are being developed and demonstrated through the refurbishment of Glastonbury House.

The demonstration stage of this project is now underway with the creation of an exhibition and two refurbished flats. These unique facilities will support the extensive consultation phase of the project with the residents of the building, the wider community in Westminster, the Housing industry and nationally.