7 More London
Having completed my Masters in Energy Management & Environmental Technology at City, University of London I fell in love with not only London but the green building space. I wrote my dissertation on an energy audit that I completed on City, University of London building that allowed me to have greater insight into the energy auditing space.
One of the greenest buildings in London is 7 More London on the South Bank close to London Bridge Station and is now home to PwC UK and was the last building completed in the More London Masterplan. The More Development Masterplan consists of iconic buildings on the South Bank including City Hall, 1 More London Place home to EY, 3 More London Home to Regus, and Gowling WLG at 4 More London Place. This masterplan has allowed for larger organizations to move south of the river in buildings that have increased green building standards.
7 More London is the largest building within the Master Plan providing PwC with 60,850 meters squared of office space across 10 stories that has a maximum building capacity of 4,000 people. According to Foster + Partners: The building itself has incorporated a range of energy saving strategies in order to increase sustainability initiatives including a facade that is designed in a way to offer shade and insulation while also featuring solar hot water panels and fully automated building management and metering systems. One of the cutting edge technologies that was implemented is a Combined Cooling Heating & Power (CCHP) tri-generation plant. This plant has allowed for 55% less CO2 emissions than that required under the 2006 Part L2 Building Regulations.
The building itself does not have an obvious ‘front’ or ‘rear’ of the building and from any side looks like it could be the main entrance of the building. Facades in the building have interiors that have zig-zag screens that allow daylight to penetrate the office floors. One way in which the building is trying to optimize the daylight is the symmetrical wings opening towards the river to reveal the open circular drum at its core. These facades allow the building to be able to maximize the amount of energy during the summer months when the days in the UK are much longer while also utilizing natural light during the shorter winer months.
The most notable green building accreditation that 7 More London has is the BREEM- Outstanding. BREEAM stands for Building Research Establishment Environmental Assessment Methodology and is regulated by BRE Global Ltd. According to the BREEAM website “BREEAM certified rating reflects the performance achieved by a project and its stakeholders as measured against the BREEAM standards and its benchmarks.” In order for a facility to achieve an outstanding score requires an 85% score or above. BREEAM is another green building certification very similar to that of LEED and most buildings will choose one of the two rating systems as while they have many overlaps are very different in the individual credits.
Interested in Learning More?
7 More London: https://www.fosterandpartners.com/projects/pwc-more-london
More London Development: https://www.fosterandpartners.com/projects/more-london