Earlier this year, the headquarters for the international not-for-profit organisation CABI was announced as a finalist in the ‘Building Project of the Year under £10m’ category for the SECBE Awards and now it's in the running for the People’s Choice Award 2021 too.

Organised by non-profit organisation SEBCE, the Constructing Excellence SECBE Awards celebrate regional excellence and the most inspiring, innovative, and collaborative efforts that help to drive the industry forward.

CABI is an international, not-for-profit organisation that applies scientific expertise to solve problems in agriculture and the environment. We won the competition to design a new and sustainable HQ for CABI in Wallingford, Oxfordshire, and completed the project in October 2020.

The project aim was to highlight the value of biodiversity and to call for a renewed effort to safeguard the variety of life. We crafted a low-energy design that offers a two-storey, collaborative and flexible office space that responds to its location in an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty.

The design is highly energy efficient with strategies for materials, orientation and structures. A careful selection of materials for the building fabric will reduce the energy consumption, embracing the aim of low carbon use in operation. The building is positioned to minimise solar gains by orientating it East-West, providing shade in the summer and allowing sunlight in the winter. A living roof attracts insects and birds and enhances biodiversity.

The 2,787 sq m headquarters foreshadowed the shift towards clean air, prompted by Covid-19. A perforated façade permits cool air into the building, it then rises up and is collected at the top. Heat recovery ventilation is used in the winter to pre-warm fresh air, which is then pumped into the floors.

For more information about the awards, and if you’d like to vote for CABI, please follow the link here. 

Results will be announced at the Constructing Excellence SECBE Awards 2021 Summit & Awards Ceremony on Thursday 1 July.