Business puts Bugbrooke on the world map with world-first sustainability project

Unusual Rigging, which employs over 90 people on its site in Bugbrooke, is used to undertaking big projects in theatre, film, global sporting events like the Olympics and the World Cup, as well as museums, and big public events across the UK, Europe and Worldwide. But now they've embarked on their most ambitious project to date - replacing their old offices with a brand new 100% sustainable, ecologically sound premises.

This week, they took delivery of a product called Breathaboard from a pioneering company called Adaptavate. In a world-first, the boards will be used where traditionally plasterboard would be installed. The big difference is that Breathaboard is a scalable, carbon sequestering alternative to one of the most widely used products in the construction industry.

Unusual Rigging is Adaptavate's first pilot project and is set to draw significant attention from construction and architectural professionals across the globe.Tom Harper, Unusual Rigging's managing director is a passionate sustainability champion. Fuelled by a drive to 'be the change', Tom has designed and implemented initiatives at Unusual Rigging including asset management, reuse and refurbishment, and new approaches to product design. Tom's Circular Economy MBA with Bradford University is helping him put the pioneering themes of a circular economy to good use.

The new Unusual building, constructed on the same site as its existing premises in Bugbrooke, Northamptonshire, is set to open this summer. Initial planning was drawn up by local architects, Walker Associates, who have been on board as the appointed chartered RIBA architects for Unusual ever since the company moved to Bugbrooke in the early 1990s. Taking the project to the next stage are architects Corsorphine & Wright – a practice with the resrouces and vision to ensure the project is completed to satisfy the ambitions of Tom and the company as a whole.

This has seen extensive research done to ensure that no details are overlooked; choosing carbon sequestering materials, reusing materials where possible, opting for biodegradable materials over carbon intensive ones and addressing heating and lighting requirements with Passive House capacity in mind. The building has been designed so that it can be easily disassembled at end of life, meaning all materials could potentially be reused again. It will run on 100% onsite renewable energy and the surrounding grounds are also being regenerated, adding ponds and specific landscaping bent towards re-wilding.

“We are so incredibly proud of what has been achieved so far and delighted to see the excitement is shared by every single one of our suppliers and contractors who all play such a pivotal part in this project. As a company, we’ve always pushed boundaries – now we can confidently say we’re shattering them. We’ve achieved world-first status, can boast Passive House certification and really feel like we are setting a precedent for green construction, not only as a local business but within the industry in which we operate and worldwide. Moving towards being a cleaner, greener company is something our founder Alan Jacobi started and seeing this through just adds to his legacy,” said Tom Harper.

Unusual Rigging's successful outcomes have been recognised by The Circulars award scheme. Unusual Rigging gained recognition for its circular economy projects in two consecutive years in the awards, presented at the World Economic Forum.

Tom represents Unusual Rigging Limited as one of the core group members of the Sustainability in Production Alliance. SIPA is a group of professionals cooperating to ignite and scale-up sustainable culture change in the live production and entertainment industry.