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Building with people in mind

We spend up to 90% of our time indoors, so it’s important that the buildings we use on a daily basis are designed with people in mind. While this might sound obvious, if you’ve ever been in a noisy office or a freezing cold home, you’ll know it isn’t always the case.

Saint-Gobain’s innovative MULTICOMFORT concept aims to do just that. MULTICOMFORT brings together a range of the latest building materials and techniques to ensure our homes, schools, workplaces and more are built in a way that makes us feel good.

The approach is split into four elements of comfort: thermal, acoustic, indoor air and visual. When used together, these factors allow builders to create spaces that have a positive impact on the people who use them, and also protect the environment.

Bartholomew Barn at the King’s School, Worcester, is the first building in the UK to be built to the MULTICOMFORT concept. Designed to ensure it’s a great place to be for both students and teachers, the space has increased natural light, improved air quality and enhanced insulation that improves the wellbeing of the people who use the building.

Bartholmew Barn

The barn is a mixed-use space used for sports, assemblies, music lessons, drama and dance performances, as well as external events. Because of this, particular consideration was given to the building’s acoustics and the space was shaped in a way that minimises echoes and reverberation. The use of sound barriers and breaks also helps reduce the transfer of noise from both within the space and from the outside in.  This means pupils and teachers are now able to hear each other more clearly and concentration is improved.

One of the next buildings to be constructed using MULTICOMFORT principles is the winner of this year’s Jewson Building Better Communities competition, Eden-Rose Coppice Trust. See how the charity will be using the MULTICOMFORT concept here.