Excellence isn't easy, and nor should it be.
The best projects, buildings and outcomes are achieved when pursuit of excellence is relentless, when every option is examined and re-examined, when brave decisions are taken at the right time, and when stretching goals are set. That’s when we get the best out of ourselves too, by the way.
There are many areas that the construction industry needs to do better. There are often barriers and excuses thrown out along the way as if to permit ourselves to move slower, do less or consider a goal achieved when in fact we’re a way short of where we could be, or indeed should be.
Yesterday we received the final certificate confirming an award of BREEAM Outstanding for EQ Bristol. This is a huge achievement for a building that completed stage-4 design with only an Excellent rating and it’s a testament to what can be achieved through hard work, technical excellence and unrelenting focus on outcome from a diligent design, construction and Client team.
During the construction process and with engagement from the whole team, we all set about looking at every aspect of the project and how it was built. Ambitious targets were set around reducing construction waste, minimising resource consumption and making the building still-more efficient when it was already performing very well.
The result is an award-winning building which is already delighting occupants and gaining attention for setting a new bar in workplace design. EQ is both BREEAM Outstanding and NABERS 5* rated, and neither of these awards were achieved at the expense of budget, but by focussing on incremental improvement of every little detail. Yes, it was hard work but it was enjoyable too.
The construction industry consumes materials and resources and comes with a heavy carbon impact. That’s an inconvenient truth. But when we take the approach above, we incrementally make our buildings less environmentally harmful, more sustainable and just plain better. We all have a duty to rise to that challenge.
As Chris Rae of CEG: reminded me this morning, if it was easy everyone would be doing it. He’s right. So come on Everyone, let’s all try a bit harder!
Buro Happold, CEG:, Aukett Swanke, JLL, BAM UK & Ireland, Arup, Carbon Consult LTD , Macgregor Smith
