Soft Landings and aftercare
Helping ensure decisions across the project lifecycle optimise operational performance.
Buildings are often not designed with end users in mind, reducing productivity and increasing whole life cost. A shared vision championed through briefing, design, construction and handover can avoid this ‘crash landings’ culture.
Buro Happold has a strong capability and track record in helping clients articulate clear project goals and targets to deliver buildings that exceed expectations from design development through to in-use performance.
Supporting this process, Soft Landings provides a framework for a clearer dialogue between the client, design team, contractor and building users, improving the operational readiness of a building. Soft Landings aligns perfectly with a performance-focused design approach, providing a proven way to achieve a measurable operational energy performance target.
From vision setting workshops to detailed reality checking with facilities teams, contractors and end-users, Soft Landings can help ensure performance aspirations are understood by all and delivered in the long-term following handover.
Key benefits of a Soft Landings approach
- Reduced risk of developing a “performance gap”
- Greater team understanding of critical elements impacting performance
- More satisfied users with fewer complaints and snagging issues
- Reduced number of defects through a fully coordinated handover process
- Reduced maintenance requirements because facilities teams are empowered
- Reduced energy costs as assets are better optimised
- More robust handover process with a greater level of attention to fine tuning and commissioning of building management systems.
Services we offer
- Soft Landings Champion
- Soft Landings Lead and/or Coordinator
- Pitstopping (reality checking) workshops
- Post-occupancy evaluation (POE)
- Indoor environmental monitoring
- Government Soft Landings
expertise At every stage
Inception and briefing
Our experts will introduce the Soft Landings process to the team and facilitate lessons learned workshops. This includes assisting the client in setting Soft Landings roles and responsibilities amongst the project team. The Soft Landings process will help you with setting a programme of intermediate design evaluations, reality checks, and sign-off gateways.
Design development and review
We’ll facilitate design reviews and ‘reality checking’ workshops to test the design against core stakeholder needs. Identify any management and usability issues with the current design. Revisit and update the early stage performance targets and feedback to end users.
Construction
Our experts can help ensure quality is not compromised as the project moves from design to construction. We’ll support you by reviewing contractor and supply chain proposals against design targets and user needs. We can even facilitate regular site walkarounds so that end-users can experience the site.
Pre-handover
Our Soft Landings consultants can host operational readiness workshops with building users to present key information on how the building operates.
As well as work with you to identify what operational management documents and handover documentation is required to enable smooth operation of the building. We’ll also help ensure that sufficient training has been provided to the facilities management team.
Initial aftercare
Our experts can provide continued technical assistance to help the facilities team understand and interrogate the energy metering system and other monitored systems during the aftercare phase.
We can also help ensure the contractor is following through on any necessary pre-handover training to users and assist end users during the early occupancy by answering their questions and addressing emerging issues.
Extended aftercare and POE
Our support doesn’t end there; we can help you undertake structured post-occupancy evaluation (POE) studies to review measured performance compared to design stage targets. Helping to ensure users are satisfied with the operation of the building.
Our Soft Landings consultants can also carry out regular walkabouts and fine-tune the systems when required, and document lessons learned and recommendations for future projects.
Project highlights
Newcastle University Urban Sciences Building
Newcastle, UK
BSRIA Soft Landings Project of the Year and CIBSE Building Performance Awards winner. The Urban Sciences Building is the home of Newcastle University’s world leading School of Computing and a flagship for urban sustainability.
Buro Happold led all sustainability input for the project from conception to handover, including supporting the University and Contractor throughout the Soft Landings process.
Measured energy performance following the one year post-occupancy evaluation was found to be within 3% of the design stage operational energy prediction. A measurable improvement in student/staff productivity of up to 11% was quantified in a before vs after user satisfaction survey.
2 Redman Place
London, UK
Buro Happold was appointed Soft Landings Champion for Cancer Research UK when they moved into their new BREEAM Outstanding and WELL Gold certified headquarters. Our work included holding reality checking workshops to communicate the design approach and supporting Cancer Research UK in mapping out requirements for handover documentation.
Our sustainability consultants also undertook an energy audit and user survey of the client’s previous office headquarters to gather baseline data and supported the client in reviewing energy performance data vs operational predictions for the new facility.
Bower Ashton a-block, University of West of England
Bristol, UK
Buro Happold was appointed Soft Landings Champion to provide 18 months of aftercare following the major refurbishment of the UWE Bristol’s Bower Ashton campus.
We engaged the design team, estate, facilities management teams and end-users through workshop sessions to help de-risk the handover of the building. Over 220 staff/students completed a customised occupant survey exploring usage patterns, energy, and environmental conditions. UWE can now use this behavioural information to inform future developments.
POE has demonstrated a 46% energy saving compared with the pre-refurbished building.
David Attenborough Building
Cambridge, UK
Major refurbishment of a pre-cast concrete 1960s building. Throughout the project extensive stakeholder engagement and Soft Landings was carried out by Buro Happold at all stages of project delivery, from conception to post-occupation.
Driving the process was a bespoke sustainability framework setting targets across 50 themes of sustainability across design construction and operation. Following the one year POE, a 35.2% CO2 saving was achieved, and a sustainability action plan has been put in place to drive forward performance in use through competitive energy monitoring.
