Siemens Urban Sustainability Centre, Crystal London, Docklands Building, Architect, Design

Siemens Urban Sustainability Centre London : Crystal

London Urban Sustainability Centre – by Pringle Brandon / Wilkinson Eyre / Arup

24 Sep 2013

LEAF Award for The Crystal

LEAF Awards – Best Sustainable Development (Environmental):

20 Sep 2012

Siemens Crystal London

The Wilkinson Eyre-designed Crystal opens its doors

New landmark building for Siemens creates the world’s largest exhibition dedicated to the sustainable future of cities

The Crystal, a Sustainable Cities Initiative by Siemens, has opened in London. Conceived by Wilkinson Eyre Architects, the dramatic crystal-shaped, glazed structure has created a new independent global hub for debate on sustainable urban living and development. The 6,300 sq m building – which houses exhibition spaces, conference facilities and a technology and innovation centre – has been designed to achieve the highest international sustainability credentials for a building (BREEAM Outstanding and LEED Platinum).

photograph : Edmund Sumner

The structure – adjacent to the Wilkinson Eyre-designed Emirates Air Line cable car – will be home to Siemens’ global Center of Competence Cities, a team of multi-disciplinary urban experts, which aims to encourage the growth of sustainable cities through partnerships, research and expert collaboration. Located by Royal Victoria Dock, the Crystal is open to the public and city decision makers, incorporating a conference centre with 270 seat auditorium, office space, electric vehicle recharging points and a café.

The design story behind the £30m project is one of collaboration, with architects Wilkinson Eyre, interior and fit out architects Pringle Brandon Perkins + Will (PBP+W) and engineers Arup working closely to create innovative and bold architecture that can harness the benefits of the latest ‘green’ technology.

photograph : Edmund Sumner

Speaking on the opening of the Crystal, Sebastien Ricard, Director at Wilkinson Eyre Architects, said:

“The Crystal is a response to a very unique brief, which involves creating an iconic building to house an international centre of excellence for sustainability founded by Siemens. This project offers the fantastic opportunity to explore how new technologies can help create a highly sustainable building without relying solely on “passive systems”.

“Our concept for the building seeks to inspire people to see the future of sustainability as an opportunity to be more innovative and improve the quality of the building fabric of our cities.”

Roland Busch, CEO of Siemens Infrastructure & Cities Sector said: “Cities worldwide are making investments to improve their water supplies, power grids, transportation systems and building infrastructures. Our addressable market alone has a volume of €300 billion. In this growth market, the Crystal will help us intensify dialogue with our customers. The Crystal is our Sector’s showcase, contact point and mastermind.”

photograph : Edmund Sumner

The architectural form

Conceived by Wilkinson Eyre Architects, the form of the structure draws inspiration from the many sides of the crystal. The crystalline geometry of the architecture forms a series of angular shapes, helping to create a confident architectural focal point for the area. As the building occupies a prominent, highly visible location it has been designed as “a pavilion in a park”. The design does not have front and back facades or a traditionally defined roof but has been conceived as a set of facets which creates a striking impression when viewed from street level and when seen from above (as a passenger using the Emirates Air Line Cable Car or London’s City Airport).

The envelope of the crystal-shaped design aims to both reflect the building’s context whilst also having a degree of transparency to help connect the building with its surroundings. The project achieves this by using different types of highly insulated glass with varying levels of transparency, allowing spaces to be naturally lit whilst controlling solar gain. This careful use of translucent and mainly opaque glazing has been designed to minimise the running costs of the building.

The interior spaces

Inside the Crystal is the world’s largest exhibition on the future of cities, covering 2,000 sq m. The interactive exhibition will guide visitors through the urban infrastructure of the future, focusing on possibilities for sustainable mobility, building technologies, power and water supplies, and healthcare.

The angularity of the external skin of the building makes for interesting and varied interior spaces, designed by PBP+W. Making up the exhibition spaces is a large mezzanine with a sensory film experience theatre contained within a white curved fabric shape, which contrasts the bright red shell of the auditorium on the opposite side of the street. PBP+W worked closely with exhibition designers Event, designing the infrastructure that supports the operations of the exhibition displays.

photograph : Edmund Sumner

Environmental design

With Arup leading on the environmental engineering of the project, the Crystal has been designed to embrace the following technical themes:

• The Crystal is all-electric and consumes no fossil fuels on site

• In addition to LED lighting, chilled beams and high efficiency ventilation, the building is heated and cooled by pumps seasonally storing energy in the ground via a 17km long network of buried pipes

• Arup’s design promotes a progressive water agenda, with rainwater being harvested and cleaned to drinking quality. Black water is also being treated on site. The building is 90% water self-sufficient, and is the first commercial building in the UK to have an approved drinking water safety plan.

• Arup has coordinated an extensive range of controls into the building which allows it to operate in mixed ventilation modes, both natural and mechanical, and provide users an unprecedented degree of control over temperature, light and air. Most importantly for the future, the design is fully monitored to allow live streaming of performance figures into the exhibition hall and for the building to be constantly tuned to ensure peak performance.

Siemens Crystal – Building Information

Client: Siemens
Architect: Wilkinson Eyre Architects
Project Director: Chris Wilkinson/Sebastien Ricard
Project Architect: Alex Kyriakides
Interior and Fit Out Architect: Pringle Brandon Perkins + Will
Structural Engineer: Arup

Siemens Crystal Urban Sustainability Centre images / information from Wilkinson Eyre Architects

11 Sep 2012

London Urban Sustainability Centre

Recent photos of the building as it nears completion, located at the west end of the Royal Docks close to the new cable car northern terminal:

Photos © Keepclicking – added 11 Sep 2012:

View from the east:

photograph © Keepclicking

View looking down from the south:

photograph © Keepclicking

Detail view around roof level:

photograph © Keepclicking

Siemens Crystal : Background on the project, extract below

22 Sep 2010

Siemens Urban Sustainability Centre

Go ahead for £30m landmark London sustainability centre

New technology showcase set to open in 2012

Siemens has been given the go ahead by the London Borough of Newham for the development of a £30 million landmark sustainability centre in London’s Docklands. Councillors last night resolved to grant consent for the plans subject to signing of the Section 106 Agreement later this year. The centre has been designed by Wilkinson Eyre Architects with Pringle Brandon as lead consultant and interior architect; Event is designing the exhibition space, and the engineering consultant is Arup.

Siemens Urban Sustainability Centre images : Wilkinson Eyre Architects

Siemens unveils an urban sustainability centre for London
Designed by Pringle Brandon, Wilkinson Eyre and Arup

Siemens has unveiled designs for a landmark sustainability centre in London’s Docklands. The design team, which is led by Pringle Brandon, also includes Wilkinson Eyre Architects and Arup.

Wilkinson Eyre

Location: Royal Victoria Docks, London, England, UK