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Tom Hewitt
Director
3D Reid
Office scheme on Tipping Street recently completed for Stafford County Council
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As head of Concept Coaching Group at 3DReid, Tom has responsibility for the overall design direction of all projects within this award winning practice. This includes establishing conceptual approach, design, presentations and illustrations both from his base in the Birmingham office and increasingly across the country for the majority of sectors, with focus particularly on Urban Regeneration, Mixed use and Masterplanning, Retail and Offices.
Q: Do you have a surface dilemma?
A: Innovation can be tricky as you have to offset the results with potential liabilities so we tend to use tried and tested materials as part of our ‘truth to materials’ policy. We’ll always grab an opportunity to push our design ambition though, especially when new products made from sustainable materials such as aluminium or timber, appear on the market.
Q: Where did you apply it and what were the results?
A: We used a variety of materials on Tipping Street, a 130k sq ft office scheme we recently completed for Stafford County Council. We used expanded aluminium mesh, exposed concrete soffits, woodsorber acoustic panels and slender lime-stone rain screen panels. We did look at reconstituted aggregate masonry panels but these failed during testing and in case-studies so in the end we opted for Jura Lime Stone, as market conditions made it great value - our client got a real bargain!
Q: Do you have a surface dilemma at the moment?
A: We’re very keen to use products using recycled 'inert' materials but the range still seems surprisingly small. We need these materials for a range of internal and external surfaces especially Retail and Office schemes, where regulation and achieving BREEAM or environmental performance benefits is becoming increasingly important. Also, our company ethos has a strong sustainability agenda, and we would love to draw on a wider range of options with confidence.
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For more information on 3D Reid please visit www.3dreid.com
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