London City Hall BUIL1166 The Queen's Walk, London SE1 2AA Building Casestudy: 5 Svetoslava Ilieva
Introduction • • • • • • • • • • • •
History Construction start: 2000 Completion: 2002 Area: 19 814 m² Height: 45 m Architect Foster and Partners Structural Engineer: Arup Quantity Surveyor: Davis Langdon & Everest M+E Engineer: Arup Landscape Architect: Townshend Landscape Architects Lighting Engineer: Claude Engle Lighting
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Additional Consultants: Montagu Evans
Introduction •
London needed a new landmark, a building that should stand out but simultaneously be as ‘green’ as possible. Norman Foster+Partners won the competition with their project and thus a new generation of sustainable, low on CO2 buildings, was created and succeeded by More London.
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London City Hall is situated on the south bank of Thames river, west from Tower Bridge
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City Hall is home to the Mayor of London and the London Assembly.
Air •
Air is the gaseous substance that envelops the Earth, it is the invisible layer called the atmosphere of the planet.
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The movement of air masses is called wind.
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Living organisms on Earth need air to survive due to the components it is made of, but one in particular-oxygen.
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Wind power is a renewable source and is commonly used for energy generation.
Air • Ventilation The almost spherical shape of the building is specifically designed to allow the natural ventilation of the City Hall. • Office spaces are ventilated passively • Water via boreholes is pumped throughout the buildings. Due to the fact that water is hot (which is ideal for cold weather) it has to be chilled while running through special pipes, in which airflow cools the water thus rejecting the need of chillers.
Air • Ventilation •
openable vents enable the flow of air
• As space is left between the stairways, walls and windows it also allows natural light to Illuminate the inside to the maximum.
Air • Convection • Due to the difference in pressure warm air rises above cold air. For This reason building‘s top floors are the hottest spot and the ground floor (or basement) the coldest.
Air • Radiation Thermal radiation is the electromagnetic waves emitted by the Sun‘s hot plasma onto the Earth. London City Hall‘s design uses thermal radiation as a part of the natural heating source and through the special system it has incorporated in its facade, it minimizes the gain and loss of heat in the building.
Light • The Sun is the Earth‘s biggest source of natural light, it doesn‘t only supply the planet with illumination but also heat and without it life cannot exist. • Sunlight is a renewable source • and is commonly used for energy • distribution.
Light • Natural Maximum use of natural light, the artificial light doesn‘t come to strong, it blends quite gracefully with the artificial
Light •
Shading of London City Hall during the different times of the day.
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Sun rises from the east and sets in the west. The diagram shows the sun path and the shadows of City Hall on the 22nd September, the Autumn equinox.
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There are two equinoxes each year: the spring and autumn equinox. At that time the Sun’s rays fall directly on the equator. During this event day and night lengths are almost equal. (approximately 12 hours each)
Light • Meter readings have been collected from different spaces inside of the City Hall that access is allowed. These are meter measurements taken from the ground floor and the toilets.
Light External shading devices incorporated in the building facade to limit the internal heat gain resulting from solar radiation. • Solar panels have been Placed on the top of City Hall in 2007, it is a customdesigned £540,000 photovoltaic system Which aims to reduce CO2 emissions in the area. •
Light • Shading during the different seasons •
London‘s City Hall special design minimizes the surface area exposed to direct sunlight.
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This design lets the building create it‘s natural shading and that of the spaces inside the building
Ground •
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The Earth‘s lithosphere is the most upper layer of the planet, it comprises the Earth‘s crust and the upper part of the mantel. Humans inhabbit the first layer of it, they use a lot of Earth‘s sources for manufactoring and other purposes but unfortunately, the planet‘s sources aren‘t renewable.
Ground • Construction techniques Structural frame: Structural steelwork, reinforced concrete core Foundations: Piles 30m deep Angle of glass front inclination: 81 degrees to 31 degrees from horizontal.
Ground • Reinforced steel This is the type of steel used in the construction of City Hall. It is called ‘rebar‘ which is short of reinforcing bar, it is commonly used as a steel bar or a mesh of steel wires that are used for the reinforcement of concrete.
Ground • Materials Glass •
EWS-1triple glazed ventilated cavity cladding system with solar control louvre blades
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EWS – 2 to 7, minimal framing and insulated panels to attain maximum transparency.
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Atrium Glazing, laminated glass panels, double height spanning mullions which rely on the glass to structurally cross brace the system.
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EWS- Extruded Window Systems
Ground • Glass Low-e coatings minimize the amount of ultraviolet and infrared light that can through glass in the spaces of the building which minimises overheating.
Ground Different layers of soil form in relation to organic and inorganic substances that have been formed soil due to various environmental changes through the life cycles of planet Earth.
Ground • Archaeological Dig • Tudor fishponds were discovered nearby where a banana peel was found, which proves that this fruit was available in England hundreds of years earlier than previously thought • oak planking from a medieval ship, top plank or gunwale, built originally from trees that grew in Ireland and were felled between 1267 and 1276
The blue colour that covers the biggest part of our planet is called hydrosphere. The hydrosphere is made of water. Living organisms on Earth cannot survive without it : they consume it, live in it and need it for everyday use in relation to different purposes.
Fresh water (drinkable) takes up to only 2.5% of the water on Earth. Nowadays, water is becoming highly polluted due to the inability of humans to sustain the balance of the natural environment on the planet.
Water
"Water, water, everywhere, nor any drop to drink" - Rhyme of the Ancient Mariner, by Coleridge.
Water • Boreholes that run130m deep and pump underground water to cool and heat the building. In the summer groundwater has to be chilled before circulating through the City Hall through special pipes in which air flows, in the winter water doesn‘t need to be chilled. In both cases after water has passed through each space in the building it is recycled- used for the flushing of toilets.
Water • Drainage system •
The drainage system of London City Hall is designed by Fullflow in 2008.
Energy • 25% of the usual energy consumption of office buildings is used in London City Hall because the building uses all sources it can derive energy from( as the energy concept is seen through all the other sections as a main goal). • Although recent statistics show the failure in achieving this goal, of a reduced use of energy,
Recycle • The bins in London City Hall are divided in 3 sections: nonrecyclable rubbish, other recycling and glass recycling.
Recycle • After the water has been pumped throughout the building it is used for the flashing of the toilets.
Synthesis • London City Hall‘s systems are all connected to each other: water is used for heating, cooling and recycling. Each compoment has been very carefully chosen, used to the maximum so that the building would reduce the amount of energy it uses. • Its shape and the position of spaces have been designed to lower the carbon dioxide emissions in the region, even the materials that it has been built of have been recycled previously. An almost entirely ‘green‘ building.
Conclusion • London City Hall proves to be a rather successful building. Despite the obvious improvements it will require in future ( and so does every building, doesn‘t it?) it is a wonderful example of whta future buildings should aim to be: sustainable. • In this era when the environment becomes drastically polluted people should reconsider their decisions and the consequences that will follow from them, so that we can look forward to a bright, environmentally friendly future.
Sources • Wikipedia • Foster+Partners • Google images