Air quality statement: conversion of offices to flats in town centre

Air Quality

Half way through converting a city office building into flats the client was requested, through a retrospective planning permission, to submit an air quality assessment to determine the potential impact of the development. Instead of producing a wishy-washy impact assessment which demonstrates negligible impact but changes nothing, EPS chose the pragmatic approach: working with the development to install as many low emission measures into the development as possible to minimise, if not negate entirely, the harm to local air.

Project: Office to flats conversion in a town centre location requiring an air quality assessment when previously none had been required for a similar, larger, conversion.

Nature of site: City centre location, historical building with no car parking provision. Well connected for train station, buses and shops.

Scope: Worked with client to integrate low emission measures into the development, such as electric bike charging, cleaner boiler, better energy efficiency, cycle security and stairway guide to allow flat-occupants to push bikes up and down stairs. All the measures were presented to the planning authority in a brief report which was better received than conventional assessments. The client was pleased as their money hadn’t just been spent on consultants fees, but bettering their scheme.

Client: Private developer

Duration of works: 4 weeks

Value: £1,000