Anna Freud Centre

The 3,300 square metre project for the new centre of excellence brings the best people and organisations from the fields of neuroscience, mental health and education together to work directly with children and their families. The vision of the centre is to be a knowledge hub and community which develops new treatments, interventions and approaches which are developed on the basis of the latest scientific knowledge in order to offer better services in the field of mental health at a local, national and international level.

The new building is in a central location nearby King's Cross in London and extends the existing warehouse of the chocolate factory by one building that has up to three stories in the back part and up to five storeys in the front part of the property along the street.

Existing and new floor areas in the upper storeys are connected to an open plan ground floor throughout the site and house common and mutual facilities, such as a cafe, a library, a conference centre and so-called "Hot Desking" jobs, (flexible, changing).

The building has two kinds of facade to emphasise the different building environments. The fully glazed west facade will make a strong connection to the park on the other side of the street and offer the classrooms an open view of the trees and the sky. Inner courtyards benefit from the same facade system to maximise the daylight and line-of-sight connections between different parts of the building, the view over the terraces and the view over the outside spaces. The north and south facades which are not obstructed by adjacent buildings are clad with precast concrete components with a large-area geometric pattern.

Several roof terraces at different levels offer employees, visitors and the school relaxing outdoor spaces.

To attain BREEAM Excellent (BREEAM - Building Research Establishment Environmental Assessment Methodology - is an evaluation system originally from Great Britain for the ecological and socio-cultural aspects of sustainability of buildings), the sustainability measures include a recuperator, passive cooling system with thermal mass, natural ventilation, LED lights and daylight sensors, the biodiversity on site with nectar rich flowers and insects and bird nesting boxes, rainwater use via a sustainable system of drainage for toilet flushing and the building envelope is designed so that the outer glazing contributes to a reduction in solar radiation.

GU solution: Hardware for Parallel-Projecting windows