London City Hall Name: Emre Atli Student Number: 000784424 Course: BUIL-1166-MO1-2013-14 Introduction to Building Enviroments and Construction
Structure 1. INTRODUCTION 2. AIR 3. LIGHT 4. GROUND 5. WATER 6. ENERGY 7. RECYCLE
Introduction ¤ Address: The Queen's Walk, London SE1 2AA ¤ Height: 45 m ¤ Number of floors: 10 floors ¤ Opened: July 2002 ¤ Net Floor Area: 130,749 sq.ft ¤ Hours: Friday 8:30 am – 5:30 pm - See all ¤ Architecture firm: Foster and Partners ¤ Architect: Norman Foster
Introduction ¤ London City Hall is the HQs of the Greater London Authority. It is located in Southwark, south bank of the River Thames, and it was designed by Norman Foster. The building is made of 10 floors creating a building which is 45 metres high, with 185,000 sq ft of floor space. The shape resembles a cocoon which also might represent protection from a harsh or unfriendly environment. The geometrically modified organic sphere allows the building to not have a back or front. The building inclines which is supported by pillars which creates natural shadows from direct sunlight. The building has been designed to be as eco friendly as possible. City Hall uses a quarter of the energy a normal office building runs on. This is done through ecologically sound, passive environmental control systems.
Intro ¤ This plan portrays the lower ground floor which holds public spacing such as cafeterias, meeting rooms and “The Scoop”. “The Scoop” is a public space where public can go and sit along the spiral stairwell which is placed in front the cafeteria so public can use it as space to sit and buy items from the cafeteria or just for pleasure. ¤ Just outside the City Hall there is a gold metallic 3D plan of the city hall and all other buildings that surround it. The City Hall is built in the middle of other amazingly designed buildings and attractions.
Intro ¤ The route I have taken to the London City hall allowed me to exlpore the surrounding of the building. The fact that the building is on the southern bank of the Thames allows development and the upbringing to the area. The Southwark has improved and increased.
Air ¤  The building has been designed to be as eco friendly as possible. The City Hall building uses cold ground water to air condition the building. The water is taken the table under London using two holes which allows the building to cool down. The building is naturally ventilated. Windows can open in all spaces such as offices and meeting halls. By minimizing the surface area for energy saving and having these energy saving systems allows the building not needing to use Air Conditioning systems which saves a high amount of money.
Air ¤ The heat of the building builds and collect up at the building’s core, which then travels through out the building because of its one whole shape design. The images show the metal filters which allows the air to go through each floor and not bigger objects. The heat in this building is recycled followed by light. The triple glazing allows heat to get trapped and heat up the building. The building is very green because instead of expensive systems the building heats up by the allowing the heat to travel around and not get wasted, the vent drills allow air to go through to allow the heat to travel. Windows also are adjustable so air can enter.
Air ¤ The vents are controlled, which can be opened, allow cool air to flow in, this automatically reduces the heat in the room, which then allows the air escapes through the top vent. These vents are installed in the South, East and West section of the building. North side of the building, is the Assembly Chamber and the Committee room. These rooms are heated and cooled by automatically operated vents.
Light ¤ According to summer the building sees 17hours of sun light and 14 hours of direct sun light . The building is naturally heated and as it has no ventilation for any kind of temperature .The fact that the buildings is a sphere shape allows the allocate heat and light during the day. When the building gets to heated the windows can be opened to allow cold air to get around the building. Also most offices inside the building has fans that can cool down the building.
Light ¤ The light pattern show that the City Hall captures more direct sunlight from the south. There is less sunlight coming from the north side. This is the reason why the building faces the south side to capture most of the sunlight so a high amount of heat can enter the building.
Light ¤ The fact that the windows are triple glazed really benefit the lighting of the structure. There are 4 main benefits which are that it is energy saving, secure and less noise pollution. ¤ The triple glazing glass is coated by Planitherm which saves energy by capturing the sun and reflecting it back into the room to create heat. This technology allows the windows from getting cold. Windows being cold and not able to release heat causes draughts and creates colder areas in the room. The full front of the city hall is made from glass therefore a system or method of insulation and ventilation is required such as triple glazing installation. Also Triple glazing is often to be a better fit when many small/medium sized windows are used over a large area.
Light ¤ The glass and spacing between each pane allows the noise pollution from the people and objects outside to be decreased
Light ¤ Combination of natural light and electrical light. Natural light passes through the windows creating shadows and shapes
Ground ¤ The concrete used out side the city hall is called “stamped concrete”. Stamped concrete is normally used for driveways and walkways. The concrete is patterned and texture before its dry. Having stamped concrete prevents the under layer of the pavement from growing weed up through cracks. The stamped concrete is solid and has a continuous surface nothing can grow. The building used around 13,100 square metres of concrete.
Steel ¤  Steel is the main material used to create the base/skeleton of the building. The structural steel framing is made out of stainless steel framing The creation of this skeleton is made up of vertical and horizontal lines. This skeleton creates support for the for the , walls and floors of the building. The building was constructed using more than 4 tones of steel. The skeleton shape of the building which is a modified sphere, which is angled to ensure minimal heat gain in summer and minimal heat loss in winter. Reinforced concrete is also used. Reinforced concrete is concrete mixed with the steel bars which give the building higher strength.
Glass ¤  Glass is the main material used on the building. This is because of the the new technologies such as solar panel etc. The coatings depends on the solar energy form the sun. The first floor of the building used triple glazed with solar control louver blades. The rest of the building which is used for public area uses minimal framing and insulated panels to give the building the transparency look. Inside the building Atrium glazing is used. This glass is also used for internal atrium glazing for doors and screens. This allows sound to travel through the building easily with out using microphones.
Water ¤ The borehole system heats and cools the building by using pumped water from below the ground. The pumped water circulates around the building cooling and heating the building. ¤ This method keeps the core temp and allows the emission cost to be kept low. By keep every thing green allows the building to be sustainable
Water ¤ The Rain water is recycled and used in the toilets and travels to the bore holes so the water can be recycled and used for the fountains. The diagram shows the water traveling through the building and how the air conditioning occurs. ¤ In the winter the process is copied but the water pumped is operated by gas boilers. Not many big buildings like the City use these kind of system as it takes money and time.
Recycling ¤ The City Hall is a building that really operates on recycling. The natural shade from direct sunlight generates heat and this recycled, heating the building. The building it’s self such as floor tiles , doormats , tiles , metal, and plastic is made from recycled materials. Also the water in the toilets uses recycled water which then gets recycled again for the fountains outside.
Energy ¤ London City Hall is one of London’s most efficient buildings. The energy that City Hall runs on is the quarter of the energy used by a normal office building. The shape of the building and its geometry has scientifically created aiming to reduce both solar loss and heat loss. The buildings electrical consumption was reduced by solar panels on the room. The city hall creates its own power.
Energy ¤ Also Lighting developments have been made. There are movement sensors on every floor which allow lights to automatically switch off if the rooms are not accompanied by anyone. They have reviewed the working times at the City Hall to ensure optimal plant operation timings. Improvements were made with the boiler plant lagging to help minimise heat loss.
Energy ¤ Voltage optimisation technology has been installed. This technology reduces the voltage needed for City Hall’s equipment and reduces the energy use around the building.
Conclusion ¤ I think London City Hall is a very environmentally friendly building. The materials that the building used were recycled and this allowed the building to have its own characteristic. The building is very modern, and the glass finishing allows great amount of light to enter the building. The amazing river Thames on the opposite side, reflects onto the buildings glass allowing a perfect moment to capture. This is one main reason why this building is so successful. The ventilation system keeps the air fresh and clean to breath. It was a very smart idea the fact that the building reuses it’s water gives. The architect company Foster and Partners was the perfect company to design the building and Norman Foster always designs to detail of his systems used.