Pancras Square King’s Cross, Camden Council Centre, Architect, Images

Camden Council Building, London

Pancras Square Development, King’s Cross Building – design by Bennetts Associates Architects

14 Nov 2012

Camden Council Public Building at Pancras Square

Design: Bennetts Associates Architects

New ‘green’ King’s Cross building to cut carbon emissions by over 60%

A new Camden Council public building at Pancras Square, King’s Cross, is set to be one of the greenest in London after achieving a BREEAM sustainable design rating of ‘Outstanding’.

The building is the first of its kind to combine a swimming pool, leisure centre, library, customer access centre, café and office accommodation and still achieve such a high environmental rating.

Camden Council Building design:

images from architects

Through selling old inefficient accommodation and moving to the new site the Council will cut carbon emissions compared with the relevant buildings by an estimated 64%. That’s equivalent to the annual carbon footprint of 435 Camden residents – almost half the number of people living on the nearby Maiden Lane estate. Based on current energy costs it would lead to projected annual savings of more than £500,000.

The facility has been registered for a bespoke interim BREEAM assessment and achieved a rating of ‘Outstanding’. Interim design stage certification marks the start of the BREEAM accreditation process and puts it firmly in place to gain the same score in a post-construction assessment in 2014.

Cllr Theo Blackwell, Cabinet Member for Finance at Camden Council, said:
“First and foremost this will be a fantastic new facility for residents which we are able to deliver at no additional cost to Council Tax payers.

“The fact that we can do this while bringing to life a building which is set to have outstanding environmental credentials demonstrates how we are very much thinking about long-term sustainability in the way we deliver services in the future.

“By taking an alternative approach and effectively managing our finances we are finding ways to invest in both the physical and social infrastructure of the borough, making Camden a better place to live.

“We are able to fund this new facility through selling old buildings which are expensive to maintain and inefficient to run. Through taking these actions and by moving to a building which is much more energy efficient we will not only be able to achieve long-term financial savings but be much more environmentally friendly too.

“We are an important part of the major regeneration of King’s Cross, with the new building drawing many services into one place which will be designed around the needs of our customers and help us to deliver Right First Time’ services.”

Construction of the new sustainable building has started and will be completed in 2014. It will be at the heart of King’s Cross, situated in Pancras Square alongside new shops, offices and open spaces.

Clare Hebbes, Project Director at King’s Cross, said: “We are delighted that Camden’s building at Pancras Square has been recognised as BREEAM Outstanding, which is the result of Camden’s commitment and a huge effort from everyone involved in the project. BREEAM ‘Excellent’ rating is the minimum standard at King’s Cross, but ‘Outstanding’ is always the goal and it is great to get that with this superb building which so many local residents will be able to enjoy. The building will offer first class facilities as well as have fantastic green credentials.

“Sustainability is integral to the place being created at King’s Cross particularly with all buildings connected to the site-wide district heating network, which makes King’s Cross one of the most sustainable developments in London.

“Receiving a BREEAM rating of ‘Outstanding’ signifies our intent to be at the forefront of sustainable developers and we are delighted this has been recognised.”

The 13-storey building, designed by Bennetts Associates Architects, will boast a number of environmental features including angled cladding to give solar shading to control heat gain, whilst allowing good natural light. The windows will be opened at night to naturally cool the building, while terraces and an atrium will let in good levels of natural light to the centre of the building.

It will have a brown roof to enhance the biodiversity and assist with controlling peak storm water run-off and the performance and operation of the building will be carefully controlled and monitored by an intelligent building management system.

Overall, the building will achieve carbon emissions that are 50% lower than required by the 2010 Building Regulations, ensuring that Camden Council’s building will be one of the greenest buildings in London and will achieve substantial and sustained savings in energy use and operational costs.

Peter Fisher, Associate Director, from Bennetts Associates, said:
“Camden’s building at Pancras Square will be an exemplar highly sustainable city centre building, which has achieved a BREEAM Outstanding rating through rigorously integrating the ‘green’ features with the structure. These simple passive design measures include maximising daylight, solar shading to help control internal temperatures and an energy-efficient hybrid ventilation system.”

Martin Townsend, Director of BREEAM, said: “Our congratulations to all those involved in developing the new Kings Cross Building.

“It is great to see a building that not only shows an absolute commitment to creating a superb space for people to work, take exercise, have fun and relax in, but also one that takes account of the environment and broader aspects of sustainability. An excellent example to others of what we can be achieved through the use of BREEAM with a well-informed client and design team.”

About BREEAM

BREEAM is the world’s foremost environmental assessment method and rating system for buildings.

BRE Environmental Assessment Method (BREEAM) is a voluntary measurement rating for green buildings that was established in the UK by the Building Research Establishment (BRE).

It uses recognised measures of performance, which are set against established benchmarks, to evaluate a building’s specification, design, construction and use. They include aspects related to energy and water use, the internal environment (health and well-being), pollution, transport, materials, waste, ecology and management processes.

About King’s Cross

King’s Cross is flourishing – after four years of construction across the 67-acre development the first premises opened in September 2011; around a third of the 8 million sq ft is already ‘spoken for’.

In total, the King’s Cross Central Limited Partnership project is delivering over 1,900 new homes, 3.4m sq ft net of office space and 500,000 sq ft of retail space. There will be 20 new streets, 10 major public spaces and 20 historic buildings and structures are being restored and refurbished across the site.

In June Granary Square, a new public square for London, opened in front of the Granary Complex, with steps leading down to the Regent’s Canal. In July our first residents in Rubicon Court, joined 5,000 staff and students of Central Saint Martins College of Arts and Design who moved to a new campus in the Grade II-listed Granary Complex in September 2011. Caravan, which opened in August, is the first permanent restaurant in the same building, fronting onto Granary Square and joined Shrimpy’s in the King’s Cross Filling Station and street food market KERB, on King’s Boulevard.

Next year will see the re-opening of the Great Northern Hotel in early 2013. Engineering firm Hoare Lea and Zone will be relocating their London offices to the Western Transit Shed and Argent will also be moving their head offices to the same building. The Office Group, providers of flexible office space, have taken a long lease on 30,000 sq ft in Building E1, next to St Pancras International. Urbanest UK is delivering a 657-bedroom student housing scheme for occupation in September 2013. Construction is also due to start on educational, office, cultural, retail and residential spaces for the Aga Khan Development Network.

In 2014 Camden Council and BNP Paribas Real Estate will move into new office buildings at Pancras Square.
Around King’s Cross, over £2.5bn has been invested in the transport infrastructure alone. The most recent investment, a new concourse for King’s Cross station, opened on 19 March 2012.
The King’s Cross Central Limited Partnership is investing over £250m in public realm, energy and other infrastructure, including:

Granary Square – one of the largest public squares in London is now open (June 2012)

A new bridge across the Regent’s Canal into Granary Square which is also now open

The energy centre and district heating grid which will be connected to every new building

20 new roads including ‘King’s Boulevard’, the first major street to be built in London in 100 years, which is now open. King’s Cross is being developed by the King’s Cross Central Limited Partnership, which brings together Argent King’s Cross Limited Partnership London and Continental Railways Limited and DHL Supply Chain.

For more information, visit www.kingscross.co.uk

Camden Council Building : Pancras Square King’s Cross London – images / information from Bennetts Associates Architects

Bennetts Associates Architects

Camden Council Building Pancras Square : initial release from Bennetts Associates in 2011

Location: Goods Way, King’s Cross, North London, England, UK