7 More London Riverside

7 More London Riverside is the first office building in England to achieve the BREEAM 'Outstanding' accreditation. BREEAM (BRE Environmental Assessment method) is an environmental standard for buildings, which determines best practice in sustainable design and in the UK is used to describe a building's environmental performance.

Located in the south on the bank of River Thames in London, a 10-storeys 7 More London Riverside, is the final and largest building within the More London masterplan. It covers a 13-acre site and houses a City Hall, a hotel, office buildings and extensive landscaped public space, including an open amphitheatre.) developed by More London Development providing a sustainable headquarters for PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP. Grontmij | Roger Preston & Partners was responsible for designing the base, engineering services and systems for the building.

Matthew Thurston, Director at Grontmij | Roger Preston & Partners, said "I am very pleased with the achievements at 7 More London Riverside and feel this recognition will influence developers and designers to highlight the importance of the building's environmental credentials. This has been a fully collaborative effort between us, BDP, Foster + Partners and MACE with the full support of our client More London Development Ltd and PwC, their tenant. The fact that 7 More London has also been awarded an 'A' rating Energy Performance Certificate (EPC) which is the further testament to the sustainable credentials of this development."

BRE Environmental Assessment Method

Sustainable credentials

Architect : Foster + Partners
Area : 535,000 ft2
Site Area : 80,000 ft2
Capacity : 4000 Occupants
Client : More London Developments
Structural Engineers : Arup
Services : Roger Preston and Partners
Landscape Architect : Robert Townshend
Lighting Design : Speirs and Major Associates
Cost Consultant : Davis Langdon / Mott Green Wall
Façade Access : Reef
Main Contractor : Mace Ltd
Tenant : PricewaterhouseCoopers
Designed by the architectural firm Foster + Partners, the 60,884m² building incorporates a range of energy saving strategies. In addition to a high-performance façade designed to offer shade and insulation, the building features solar hot water panels, green roofs and fully automated building management and metering systems. The key design aspect that assisted in obtaining the 'Outstanding' rating was the implementation of a Bio-Diesel fired Combined Cooling Heating & Power (CCHP) Trigeneration plant that provides a low carbon source of cooling, heat and power and has resulted in 55% less CO2 emissions than that required under the 2006 Part L2 Building Regulations.

Sustainable Design

Structural Design and Façade

Visible from all sides, the building does not have an obvious 'front' or 'back', so particular consideration has been given to the façade in assuming a distinctive presence within the masterplan. The zig-zag facades screen the interiors but allow daylight to penetrate into the office floors. A sequence of external louvres animate the glazed facades, capturing and projecting light and colors inside and creating a sparkling effect on the building's outer skin.

Structural Design and Facade

To further maximise daylight and views, the building's symmetrical wings open towards the river to reveal the open circular drum at its core. Three curved bridges, at levels 2, 5 and 8, connect the two wings, while the southern elevation drops to 7 storeys to respect the height of the buildings along Tooley Street.

More London Developments
A triple height internal atrium functions as a central plaza for the building's occupiers – a space where the potential for art and the arrangement of lifts and bridges mirrors the external life of More London.

Escalators ascend to a mezzanine level with client meeting rooms and entertaining facilities, while a bank of lifts transport staff directly from ground level to the office floors. Two skylights illuminate the space and provide a focus for the circular landscaped terrace above, which forms one of several roof gardens. As well as a green roof on the lower southern elevation, the building incorporates a rubble roof to simulate a habitat that attracted birds during wartime London, but has since been displaced by modern development.

Mike Jelliffe, partner responsible at Foster + Partners, commented: "We are delighted that 7 More London Riverside has achieved the BREEAM 'Outstanding' rating and I congratulate the full team involved in the project. This is an excellent result - it is testament to the outstanding quality of the design; our highly successful collaboration with Roger Preston & Partners, Arup, MACE, BDP and a wide range of consultants; and the vision and support of More London Development and PricewaterhouseCoopers."