The opportunity within healthcare design and build is to address all of these competing value drivers successfully.

Build Less: optimise the building’s form, structure, structural grid, WWR and DfMA components; recommend the use of durable materials, design-out basements and false ceilings (exposed soffit); design spaces which are adaptable and can be easily deconstructed..Build Clever: specify low carbon materials with a focus on the recycled content of steel and concrete and the use of timber; maximise the recycled content of finishes, use reclaimed floors and explore system’s rental; where possible use low GWP refrigerants and avoid VRF systems..

Build Efficiently: implement innovative construction strategies such as Modern methods of Construction (MMC) and use a DfMA approach to reduce waste onsite..Offset: Any remaining carbon should be offset via recognised carbon offset schemes.Offsets used should be publicly disclosed.. An example of design strategies that follow the proposed embodied carbon hierarchy is shown in Figure 5..

Step-by-step hierarchy for net zero embodied carbon.Design for Manufacture and Assembly (DfMA).

As identified above, DfMA is an essential part of the strategy to achieve net zero embodied and operational carbon.

Bryden Wood’s Platform approach to Design for Manufacture and Assembly (P-DfMA) is a system that delivers efficiencies across the entire construction process by applying the principles of manufacturing.. Bryden Wood have taken the P-DfMA approach for the design of multiple projects, like Landsec’s The Forge office development in London, where we have followed the hierarchies described above..M: I would probably say it's incredibly important to have a plan on how you will be presenting your work.

Don't forget you will be presenting in front of people who may have never seen your work before, so be clear and to the point.It's also really important to keep an open mind to any feedback you might get.

It's easy to get defensive when you're being critted because at that time you define yourself through your project (having worked on it consistently for weeks and weeks, often losing sleep to get those drawings finished), but a crit is not there to judge you and your worth but to ultimately make you a better architect.As champions of both company innovation and diversity, Bryden Wood are delighted to have three exceptional team members selected as finalists for the prestigious European Women In Construction and Engineering Awards.The WICE Awards, currently celebrating their fifth year, highlight the leading contributions being made by women within the industry.