The challenge: Passivhaus at 46 storeys
Height changes the physics. Wind pressure works against airtightness, stack effect pulls air through every unsealed shaft, and glazing that is comfortable at level 3 can overheat at level 40. Delivering the standard across three towers and 1,752 units means solving those problems once, in a way that survives 46 storeys of repetition.
The approach: one model, one junction catalogue, three towers
As Passivhaus designer we carried the energy models across the scheme and worked the facade, sky-garden and sky-bridge junctions into a catalogue the delivery team could build from. The same discipline as a single house, multiplied: every detail accountable to the PHPP, every revision checked against the certification target before it reached site.
The scale: a new ceiling for the standard
Topped out in May 2025 and opening for the 2026/27 academic year, 2 Trafalgar Way is targeting Passivhaus certification and BREEAM Outstanding. Certified at this scale, it would be the largest Passivhaus development in Europe: evidence that the standard holds at the height and density the biggest cities actually build at.
