The Architects’ Journal Architecture News & Buildings
In this episode, we hear about Architype’s success in influencing policy changes in Scotland, which includes funding tied to performance-based targets for schools and a Passivhaus equivalence standard for all new housing. Fallon also describes the growing community of architectural practices in Scotland pushing for more sustainable outcomes.
Fallon has been instrumental in developing a ‘blended’ approach to retrofit through a nuanced study of the City of Edinburgh’s estate of 300 buildings with a wide variety of building typologies from different eras. This holistic approach involves everything from exploring whether the activities in a particular building can be consolidated and intensified to the nitty-gritty of updating mechanical plant. ‘The service engineer probably hated me on the on the project, because I have an unhealthy interest in services,’ she says.
Fallon has also been involved in developing the curriculum for a national module on building physics and Passivhaus that will be rolled out in every RIBA-accredited Part 1 course, launching this autumn.
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About Ann-Marie Fallon
Ann-Marie Fallon is an associate director at Architype. She qualified as an architect in Ireland and did a Masters in Environmental Design of Buildings at Cardiff University. An early adopter of Passivhaus, she became a certified Passivhaus designer in 2009. Upon joining Architype in 2016, she led the delivery team for Agar Grove (Phase 1a) in Camden, at the time the UK’s largest Passivhaus residential project. She became an associate director in 2020 and moved to Edinburgh to join the newly-formed Edinburgh office. She is a teaching fellow at the University of Bath and an active external examiner.
Projects and resources mentioned in this episode
Scottish Passivhaus equivalent bill
Stephen Long, senior associate director, Scottish Learning Trust
Scottish Futures Trust, Learning Estate Investment Programme: Outcomes Based Funding
Passivhaus Enerphit standard
Net Zero Public Sector Building Standard, Scotland
Enterprise Centre, UEA
Max Fordham House, London
Sarah Lewis, Passivhaus Trust
RIBA-accredited Passivhaus course for Part 1 architecture students
For more information, contact hello@coaction.org.uk
Credits
Climate Champions is produced in association with ACAN, the Architects’ Climate Action Network
Podcast produced and edited by Simon Aldous
Music: Edmilson do Pífano, Forró de dois Amigos. Interpretation: Felipe Tanaka e banda Balaio de Baião