Quintain Living, a U.K.-based real estate management company, recently opened up a new development in London’s Wembley Park. The property is known as Repton Gardens and is Quintain Living’s most sustainable development to date.
Repton Gardens consists of three buildings: Aspen House, Birch House and Cherry House, each featuring several apartments and studios, as well as on-site amenities, to cater to various occupant needs. These spaces combine biophilic design with sustainable strategies to connect occupants to the natural environment from the comfort of the urban setting.
Related: London has a beautiful biophilic apartment complex
Sustainable strategies
Each of the buildings have been designed to have minimal environmental impact and optimized energy consumption. For example, the designers used the stack effect to maintain comfortable indoor temperatures. This is done by using hotel-style risers that distribute hot water pipes vertically through corridors, as opposed to conventional heating systems that run horizontally, which tend to over-heat interior spaces. Since the risers stretch upwards, the warm air radiates to the roof and is expelled outside instead of accumulating inside the building, which leads to overheating.
To keep the buildings cool, there is centralized ventilation at the roof level, which saves more energy than individual fans. The exposed concrete ceilings also reduce overheating of the buildings by allowing the spaces to emit heat into the atmosphere. Additionally, balconies have been designed to be shady and limit solar gain, particularly for the south-facing apartments.
Water management is also taken into account. The property uses rainwater harvesting systems for irrigation. All fixtures are low-flow as well, including the showers, taps and toilets.
Quintain Living also considered sustainable furnishings for a holistic, sustainable approach. Furniture elements such as the bespoke desks in the shared workspaces and seating elements (including barstools, armchairs and dining benches) all feature recycled materials or items from sustainable product lines.
Rattan products are also a key element of the interior design. These include a range of handmade armchairs and coffee tables that offer a unique aesthetic. Besides its durability and speedy growth and harvest patterns, rattan is an excellent material because every part of the plant is used and it outperforms traditional woods used for furniture. Furthermore, all items were sourced from the U.K. or nearby countries to minimize carbon dioxide emissions as a result of transportation.
Biophilic design
To complement the use of sustainable strategies, Repton Gardens features biophilic design that connects inhabitants to the natural world. This is done through meticulously-selected earthy color palettes, the use of natural products and materials and the incorporation of indoor plants to create a sense of bringing the outside indoors.
The apartments feature two different color palettes: natural or garden. This is achieved through a variety of natural materials and furnishings in neutral and earthy tones such as grey, brown, beige, deep blue and green. These color schemes are also prevalent in floor tiling, wall colors, countertops and cabinets. In turn, these material and color selections complement the sustainable, natural furnishings, including the bespoke rattan collection.
Interior spaces, including the buildings’ shared workspaces, contain botanical living elements. These plants enhance the interior air quality and strengthen the design’s connection to nature. In the podium garden that serves as the epicenter of the three buildings, the landscaping features tree species to mirror the buildings’ names (aspen, cherry and birch). The garden also includes other smaller shrubs and tree varieties to boost biodiversity in the urban environment.
Images via Quintain Living
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