30 Broadwick Street, London

A naturally sustainable space to work

The heart of London’s Soho might be the last place you would expect to find an exemplar ‘green’ building. But 30 Broadwick Street is just that: a sensitively designed replacement for an outdated, over-large office in a prominent position. Beneath its façade – influenced by historic fashion detailing – the development features state-of-the-art technologies for long-term sustainability.

With its prominent position in the heart of Soho, 30 Broadwick Street is a new urban landmark: providing six floors of high quality offices, as well as retail and restaurant space. But it doesn’t just look good. The building has been designed from the outset to be as efficient, comfortable and easy to maintain as possible.

Project details

Customer: Great Portland Estates
Main Contractor: BAM Construction
Architect: Emrys
Project Manager: Hush Project Management
Quantity Surveyor: Gardiner & Theobald
Structural Engineer: Heyne Tillet Steel
M&E consultant: Hilson Moran Partnership
Services Engineering: BAM Services Engineering
Facilities Management: BAM FM
Completed date: November 2016

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92,300 sq ft

new-build office and retail scheme

585m²

green roof and feature green wall

EPC ‘A’

rating built to BREEAM Excellent standards

3.2

tonnes of carbon saved each year using solar PV arrays

The scheme scooped the prestigious title of ‘Best West End New Build’ at the 2017 OAS Development Awards.

Green credentials

A key aspect of 30 Broadwick Street’s success in attracting prestigious tenants is its fundamental sustainability. Green thinking has informed everything from the roof-mounted solar PV panels – producing over 6000kW a year and saving some 3.2 tonnes of carbon emissions – to the 163 cycle spaces, lockers and showers provided to encourage people to bike to work.

On the upper floors, the offices are flooded with natural light from floor-to-ceiling windows: but high-performance solar control glass prevents unwanted solar heat gain. And although it is naturally ventilated, it’s also air-tight and uses mechanical heat recover to minimise heat loss in cold weather.

Every single piece of timber and all the wooden products used in the building are from FSC certified sources: from the timbers used in construction right down to the wooden dowels in the lockers. This is one of only a small number of schemes in the UK to achieve FSC Full Project Certification (TT-PRO-006105, 2017).

The design of 30 Broadwick Street includes a 36m²green wall’ and 585m² of green roof planting, with a sedum mix including a dozen different species. Open air terraces provide breathing space for the workers in the offices.

Cultivated in the community

During the construction phase, the BAM team involved the local community in many different ways. Students from nearby Westminster Kingsway College were invited to design the hoardings around the site, with the entries judged by a panel including representatives from BAM and tutors from the college.

The BAM project team worked with local schools and colleges to provide 18 apprenticeship opportunities. And three students studying construction and project management gained valuable work experience on the site.

The team also hosted site visits twice a year for construction students from the University of Westminster.

Rich data, ready for FM

A forward-thinking joint initiative between BAM and Great Portland Estates meant this was the first project to incorporate the customer’s own Asset Information Requirements (AIRs). This approach means that the data the customer needs to be available for handover to the Facilities Management (FM) phase is clearly specified from the outset.

The asset information model developed during the construction and installation stages provided verified, useable information by BAM FM, who are providing FM services for the first three years of the building’s operation.

As a result, site visits are more efficient and the FM team can assess health and safety risks in advance: so a higher proportion of issues can be fixed first time. This in turn reduces FM costs for the customer and means less disruption for tenants.

An ongoing asset history is also being gradually built up, which will be used to monitor and improve the performance of the building over its lifespan. BAM is using BIM 360 Field to add more data and documents to this rich repository of information: from manuals and maintenance schedules, to photos and checklists.

Mobile FM engineers are using iPads to walk through and interrogate this 3D virtual environment, select pieces of equipment, display or add to the existing data. Checklists for routine and statutory maintenance activities are being added, to create digital maintenance records. And key assets (as well as those that require statutory testing) are marked with barcodes/QR codes that can be read in BIM 360 Field, so that engineers can check that their records are accurate and consistent.

BAM won the building category at the 2017 Synchro Digital Construction Awards, for its use of Synchro’s 4D planning software at 30 Broadwick Street.

“For every £1 we have invested in designing the model, we have earned at least £3 back. The economics make sense. But, for me, it is also as much to do with culture of transparency, honesty and accuracy.”

James Pellatt

Head of Projects, Great Portland Estates