5 New Street Square is a prime office building in central London that has undergone refurbishment to support their major occupant's global policy to achieve net zero carbon by 2030. The design intent for the project was to extend the life of the building, as well as modernise and upgrade the facilities to meet sustainable workspace requirements. Part of our multi-disciplinary scope was to provide a low-energy building services solution. The building is predicted to achieve an EUI (energy use intensity) of 61.4 kWh/m² and a whole life carbon target of 157kgCO2e/m².
Our decarbonisation strategy for the building included replacing the gas fired boilers alongside utilising heat pump technology for heating and cooling. We used high-level smoke vents to provide mixed mode ventilation in mid-season periods, and refurbished the buildings ancillary systems, including the hydraulic plant and lighting control systems. An innovative application of both air source and water source heat pumps, combined with the application of a building wide heat recovery loop, allowed for a fully decarbonised and highly efficient centralised solution that worked within the constraints of the existing plant areas.
The project was delivered with no disruption or loss of service provision to the tenants who remained in situ whilst the work was carried out.
Paul Winstone, Associate Director, commented on the project: "By being innovative in our solutions and challenging the norms in terms of the retention of building services elements, we delivered a building that not only aligns with our client’s net zero carbon goals but also encapsulates best-in-class attributes expected from a prime office in today's market. We achieved this with minimal intervention to the facade of the building."
