Taplow Court, SGI-UK (Soka Gakkai UK), Maidenhead Photo Series
Architects:
Architype Team (https://architype.co.uk/project/taplow-court/)
Bob Hayes
Dan Usiskin
Jonathan Hines
Taplow Court, a mid 19th century mansion set high above the Thames near Maidenhead, is the home of SGI-UK, a lay Buddhist society
The Taplow burial, a 7th-century Anglo-Saxon burial mound, is in the grounds of the house, near the parish church which is scenically positioned on a hill directly above Maidenhead Bridge and the town’s riverside district. The mound was excavated in 1883 and a number of treasures were discovered, of quality of the early Saxon centuries surpassed only by Sutton Hoo in 1939.
Architype was commissioned to masterplan and design new facilities for Taplow Court to provide a training and conference centre, and a venue for the performing arts, for SGI-UK, a lay Buddhist Organisation. The first phase provided a 500 seat ‘Butsuma’, or chanting hall, which is used for performances and conferences, together with seminar rooms, exhibition spaces and a shop. Later phases provided residential course study bedrooms for 80 people, a small visitors’ centre, estate management facilities and a full landscape scheme.
The completed building is designed with high levels of insulation and with heavy thermal mass to reduce energy consumption for both heating and cooling. The main hall space has adiabatic ventilation and air cooling, with heat exchange on the extracted air. Ancillary spaces are all naturally ventilated by means of opening windows. Night purging is used to cool the entire building in warm weather.
Natural materials were carefully specified, including home grown green oak cladding and structural elements, cedar shingles and recycled aluminium sheet roofing, recycled newspaper insulation, natural rubber flooring and wool carpets, organic paints and stains, and non-PVC wiring and cabling.
All spaces are full of natural light and all artificial light is low energy. Grey water is recycled to flush toilets and irrigate areas of green roofs. Taplow Court has rich layers of sacred and secular history, and we designed the new development to integrate and enhance these special landscape qualities.
Specific features:
The approach to the site was one of minimal demolition and maximum use of existing services, and recycling of waste materials.
Building materials included green oak cladding; cedar shingles; recycled aluminium sheet; turf; wool/hemp mix insulation; recycled newspaper insulation; non-PVC wiring and cabling.
Natural finishes used include wood, natural rubber and linoleum flooring, and nonsolvent based paints and wood stains.
Construction methods included minimal foundations; high levels of insulation; and high specification timber windows.
Energy efficiency measures included adiabatic ventilation and air cooling; low energy lighting; grey water recycling in toilets; night cooling; and solar heating for hot water
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Taplow_Court
https://sgi-uk.org/Local-Community/SGI-Centres/Taplow-Court
https://architype.co.uk/browse/community/
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