News

22nd December 2022

Celebrating 75 Years – 2020’s Case Study: CABI

The Centre for Agriculture and Bioscience International (CABI) had been operating their headquarters out of a repurposed school in Oxfordshire since 1987. To usher CABI into the future, architects Scott Brownrigg designed an aesthetically striking new building which began on site back in January 2019 and completed in October 2020. Perega provided full civil engineering, structural engineering and glass engineering services and consultancy for this ambitious project.

Centre for Agriculture and Bioscience International (CABI)

The first-floor structure consisted of a hybrid precast/in-situ podium where we suggested exploiting a precast twin wall system for the concrete walls, encouraging the use of precast concrete to provide a high-quality finish and deliver the thermal mass required. Perega also advised on an extensive green roof, helping to design a robust steel roof structure to support the weight of soil and turf. This, in turn, was positioned on steel columns directly bearing onto the podium columns below.

Our civils team also provided expertise for the design of the site’s drainage and hard paving. This required the detailed development of a strategy, which was challenging due to the high water table and infiltration rates. In addition, Perega’s glass and façade team proved pivotal in the delivery of the glasswork, providing consultancy for the building’s glass balustrading across the internal landings and bridges, as well as the full height frameless office partition screens.

New offices at the Centre for Agriculture and Bioscience International (CABI)

The new offices are sustainable to the core, reflecting CABI’s ongoing work to encourage biodiversity and eco-friendly philosophy. Designed to be as energy efficient as possible, materials, components and systems were specifically chosen on their high-performance, low impact credentials. A state-of-the-art passive ventilation system was devised, and a ‘Fabric First’ approach taken to ensure low U-values, reducing the need for carbon-intensive mechanical HVAC.

Celebrating 75 years: other selected case studies