The Miners Welfare Center

'Currently, the Miners Welfare Center has a closed-off and unapproachable facade. It is unaccessible from its front door due to masses of storage sitting directly in front of the main door and certainly not suitable for all demographics of Resolven. Furthermore, the entrance is not very clear and the building’s contents are not displayed or promoted. A newcomer to Resolven would not find anything special with this building based on its exterior, nor would they feel invited to enter.
This issue found during the visit to Resolven is the main focus of this integrated design booklet.

Part of the program is to reestablish the building’s central role in Resolven, which visually needs to be represented before the building is entered. By recreating its identity within Resolven, the program of a self-sufficient and community benefiting building is further supported. To do this, there are some key intended moments to be explored.

To inform the design of the new building extensions, some key sustainability considerations were taken into account. Following the sentence, “it is ideal to have the windows (solar glazing) within 5 degrees of true south”4, the magnetic declination for Resolven was found at -0° 37’ NEGATIVE (WEST)5, and the two south- facing facades were placed within this angle to ensure passive strategies were effective whilst also following the footpath running parallel (shown in plan on the left). Furthermore, the following four sustainability strategies were implemented, all explored and expanded upon through

The system chosen is a Larsen Truss due to its significant quality of thermal performance and energy savings. This structure has a very low u-value, which together with the newly insulated existing building will eliminate the need for a complex heating system. It is also extremely quick to erect, lowering labor and machinery costs6, and has a treated combustibility rating of A2. Taking inspiration from the passive house in Radstock, the building has continuous fabric and insulation, from walls - roof - floor, creating an airtight space and eliminating the opportunities for thermal bridges. This construction includes spaces for services within the walls and the roof.

An important development of the Resolven Miners Welfare Centre is the addition of a water harvesting system. As there are two new builds with independent roofs, the idea is to have two separate rainwater collection tanks directed to separate areas of the new and existing building (shown below) to reduce travel distance of the water and make the most of roof catchment area. These will be installed during the ground leveling section of the construction process and will be buried underground. Although there is an added initial cost of installing rainwater systems, the long-term expenditure savings from using filtered rainwater for uses such as flushing toilets, watering the garden, cooking and for fire emergency sprinklers, as well as the sustainability aspect of water saving, makes the initial

Using locally sourced materials reduces carbon emissions from transport and can often be sourced for cheaper than expensive overseas shipping. They can stimulate the local economy, as well as ensure the continued availability of local jobs and services. Materials are sourced from within 30 miles of the site. All materials intended for use have been localized locally and taken into account during cost estimations and design. This is the cheapest and most sustainable option available.