Bringing together individuals from specialist groups across the practice who have significant masterplan project experience, the team provides advice on technical, commercial and policy aspects of district energy, environmental impact and sustainable building design. These individuals work collaboratively as a single team with shared common design and commercial drivers, with the aim of delivering a robust, cost effective planning consent.
What this means for the project team – the developer, the masterplan architect or the planner – is that one MEE representative can bring advice regarding utilities, protected species, external noise constraints, local microclimate, wellbeing, plant room sizing, emerging energy policy, and BREEAM opportunities, along with many other areas where we possess in house expertise. This provides the developer with a one-stop shop for planning and preliminary design, along with the ability to capture technical design, commercial viability and policy compliance across a wide range of typically disparate disciplines.
Recently, during the development of a 1300-home mixed-use development in South East London, two of our consultants represented 10 specialist disciplines through the pre-planning design stage. This would not have been possible without the wealth of knowledge that is shared openly across disciplines within our practice.
We believe that the future of design lies in interdisciplinary practice and that regular, effective communication enriches the outcome of wider collaborations. This benefit is accentuated in larger, mixed-use developments and our MEE team meets regularly to consolidate their experience, tools and knowledge of industry developments. For the Mixed-Use Commercial Zone (MUCZ) at Education City, in Doha, we used advanced computer modelling to shape the masterplan and develop full infrastructural concepts in line with the latest sustainability principles of urban design in that region.
Another skill which differentiates our MEE team from the more conventional engineering / sustainability consultancy mix, is our ability to advice on commercial issues when delivering and managing the technical aspects of district energy systems. At the Royal Albert Dock in London, our team presented various commercial and governance options for the design, build, commissioning and operation of the district heating and cooling system in addition to the concept and scheme design. This included planning consultations and commercial discussions with ESCos, before advising the client to create their own energy services entity to deliver the energy solution and therefore benefit from the large investment over the life of the development
Our MEE Group continues to evolve through the development of individuals’ skills and external collaborations with industry frontrunners in both professional and academic arenas.
For more information, please contact Marie-Louise Schembri mschembri@hilsonmoran.com