Noble Studio

We had a delightful 🍂Autumnal Wellbeing Walk🍂 last week at Noble Studio. After enjoying Hampstead Heath for our first wellbeing walk last year, we chose to explore another classic London park and were not disappointed with the array of colour and leaves Victoria Park had in store for us. Amanda designed our day, which after coffee and pastries at the Pavilion Cafe and dressed in our most autumnal outfits, involved appreciating the abundance of beauty on offer (and of course the crunch of crispy kicks through mounds of dry leaves). We gathered our favourites and created a display to be found by others. Then to echo the trees letting go of their summer leaves, we all shared one thing we are letting go of this season. It always feels worthwhile to slow down and take the time to reflect, and doing so alongside the seasons feels grounding especially in turbulent times. I would highly recommend taking the time on your next walk, whether just on your way to the station or out fully immersed in nature, to pick out a favourite leaf and mull on what you would like to let go of this season. 🌿

Heat pumps are a key heating technology in buildings. But Europe's building stock is leaky and some people are troubled by the potential impact of massive heat pump use on the electricity grid. What role for hybrid heat pumps? Hybrids combine a heat pump with a fossil fuel system. In our paper, we focus on air-to-water heat pumps combined with a gas boiler in an optimised control strategy. Europe's largest countries rely heavily on gas for heating and one of the key uses for hybrids could be adding a small heat pump to an existing gas boiler in an "add-on" configuration. Out this week for Regulatory Assistance Project (RAP), Dr Richard Lowes and I look at some of the possible benefits of hybrids, discuss the risks of relying on them and provide some recommendations for policy makers. In the worst-performing buildings, hybrids could postpone upgrades to the building envelope and heating system. In Europe's chilliest regions, they can help provide full heating on the coldest days. They can be a source of flexibility to congested power grids. But many of these challenges can be met via alternative means. Actions such as electricity grid upgrades and renovating buildings are likely to occur regardless of the heating system concerned. So what value are hybrids? At energy system level, our paper discusses the power grid, energy system costs, heat pumps in the cold and GHG emissions. On GHGs, we find that in almost all EUcountries, heat pumps are more climate-friendly than gas boilers. Hybrids would lead to significantly more emissions than a heat pump. For households, we dig into claims that hybrids make heat pump installs easier, boost consumer confidence and lower running costs. We find that only in countries with very high price ratios would hybrids deliver savings compared to a standalone heat pump. And that's if your system is optimised. Fans of hybrids will tell you that they're useful as an intermediate step. This idea has problems. As a government, that means you're probably subsidizing twice. As an individual, that means you have to go through a heating system replacement not once, but twice. In the meantime, you now need to maintain two devices and make sure they're optimised or you may pay more than you intended. We find that hybrids may offer some benefits, such as early partial decarbonisation of heating systems and a slower expansion of the electricity grid, they also bring risks and may deliver only limited benefits compared to standalone heat pump systems. Policy makers should approach them carefully. That means developing a regulatory definition on hybrids, aligning financial support with the value provided by hybrids, regulating and monitoring the systems, accounting for infrastructure and considering hybrids only as part of a policy package for clean heating. Read the report for more and reach out if you wish to discuss. https://lnkd.in/eAatr_6h

Thrilled to see the launch the Sustainable Neighbourhood Model; a project we have been collaborating with London Councils to develop over the last few months, which illustrates how a circular economy can create sustainable and resilient communities in London. Built by our friends at GOOD PRAXIS; we designed a system to showcase the wonderful case studies; creating a map and accompanying illustrations to help bring everything to life. We're excited to see how this project will inspire other London Boroughs, with initiatives of their own! #BeTheSolution #OneWorldLiving

A recent project is now live! ✨✨✨ In collaboration with Place Matters & GOOD PRAXIS

Rethinking the traditional Theory of Change diagram... We had the opportunity to work with CLARISSA (“a ground-breaking consortium generating innovative solutions for children to avoid hazardous, exploitative labour in Bangladesh and Nepal”) to rethink their Theory of Change diagram - exploring how to guide the reader through their complex nested system, and bring their impactful work to life using real examples woven into the structure. 🔗 Click here to learn more, and explore the interactive CLARISSA Theory of change! https://lnkd.in/eyk6kNMC ❓ Does your theory of change tell the story you want it to tell?  ❓ Is it easy to navigate? We would love to talk about how yours can serve you better!

✨ We’ve absolutely loved having Imogen Hunter be part of Noble Studio the last 2.75 years (to be exact!) but she has now officially headed to explore her own adventures as a freelance designer! 🙌 It’s always sad to say goodbye, but we love an excuse for a party! 🎉 One of our regular fixtures at the Studio is a quarterly "Appreciation Station", a collection of gratitudes and celebrations for every team member jotted on virtual post notes in a Miro board. 📯 For Immy’s leaving party we took the opportunity to bring the Appreciation Station to life via the sweet medium of cupcake baking and decorating! 🍰 As well as being talented designer, Immy is a brilliant baker so it felt fitting to ice some sweet treats in her honour - but it's now time for her to frost some new cupcakes and sprinkle her magic elsewhere! ✨ Wishing you all the best with your next chapter Immy! ✨

"Being a small team of six, we are in the unique position to be able to regularly support our team both in a team sense but also as individuals too. Part of my role at Noble Studio is supporting the team to create Wellness Action Plans, a tool advocated by Mind. I spend an hour with each team member, one to one, once a quarter - creating a listening space for sharing and reflection." 🔔 Our latest blog "What the heck is a WAP?!" written by studio manager Amanda Wayne is now on our website and you can check it out here https://lnkd.in/eCpvrNyZ #workplacewellness #mindfulness #teamwork

We're working on lots of exciting complex web projects at the moment and collaborating with GOOD PRAXIS. We've got a few #interactivesites in our portfolio that we're very proud of. Check out this one we created with them for European Climate Foundation, for a #campaign which pushes for a phase out of #fossilfuelheating in favour of more #sustainable options. https://lnkd.in/ePd-bAVj

“Working with Noble Studio is so easy. You know you are in safe hands right from the start. The ideas are like magic - The video they produced for us was something I know we could not have achieved in a million years if we had tried to do it ourselves or left this important job in not so capable hands. We wanted to explain a complex idea in 60 seconds in a way everyone could understand.  The video they produced has been used to explain 'Democratic Money' to residents, industry experts and policy makers - everyone understood quickly and easily without feeling patronised or bamboozled! I cannot recommend Noble Studios highly enough.Their creative minds, their professionalism and the fact that you look forward to spending time in their company, knowing they are about to blow your mind!” — Lara Norris, Curiosity Society Always a joy working with Curiosity Society! Explainer animations are one of our favourite types of projects, and we absolutely loved working with Curiosity Society on this one, which you can check out on our website. https://lnkd.in/dZPyjS-f

Meet Cate Ratcliffe AATQB our amazing bean counting Bookkeeper at Noble Studio #MeetTheTeam