Helios Building, Harwell Science and Innovation Campus

engineersHRW were appointed by Harwell Science and Innovation Campus to undertake the structural engineering design for a shell and core high-quality office building. The structural design was focused on providing an expressed, elegant and materially-efficient structural form. In-situ concrete was sculpted to reflect design forces within the structure to reduce the volume of concrete.

Inverted foundations were adopted to minimise off-site material, and allow for continuity of below ground insulation to simplify detailing. This efficient substructure design complimented our initial studies of structural embodied carbon, that were based on optimisation of the structural grid with consideration to future flexibility. The wider sustainability strategy for the building required consideration of solar gains to be balanced with views out over the surrounding landscape.