MBE for one of Britain’s greenest architects

The WISE building at CAT

Staff at the Centre for Alternative Technology are celebrating that one of the architects behind its award winning building, The Wales Institute for Sustainable Education (WISE) has been awarded an MBE in this year’s New Year Honours list.

 

Pat Borer has been closely involved with the Centre for Alternative Technology for almost all of its 42-year history, helping to create low energy, sustainable buildings.

 

Pat’s most notable achievement is his work on CAT’s award-winning building, WISE, which he designed with fellow architect David Lea and opened in 2010.

 

Situated on CAT’s site in the foothills of Snowdonia, the building showcases a combination of environmentally conscious design and cutting-edge green building techniques. The venue is sensitively constructed out of low energy materials such as hemp and lime, rammed earth and locally sourced sustainable timber.

 

Lecture theatre at WISE boasting rammed earth walls

 

WISE is a multi-use building which hosts CAT students, short courses, school visits, weddings, external conferences and events. All WISE users enjoy the cutting-edge design and sustainability features that can be seen throughout the teaching/workshop rooms, theatre, leisure space and 24 bedrooms.

 

Sensitively constructed out of low embodied energy materials such as hemp and lime, rammed earth and sustainably sourced timber. It’s been thoughtfully designed for low energy consumption use. Contributions come from on-site renewable electricity sources such as solar PV, hydro and wind turbines, and an impressive array of solar thermal collectors contribute to the domestic hot water needs.

 

The Wise Building at the Centre for Alternative Technology

 

Pat continues to teach and inspire CAT graduate students at the award-winning centre he helped to create.

 

CEO of CAT, Adrian Ramsay said: “This honour is a fantastic acknowledgement of Pat’s achievements in sustainable, low energy architecture and design. All at CAT join in with our congratulations to Pat”

 

 

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