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Long prevented from building anything that would obstruct views of St Paul's Cathedral, the City is now expanding skywards at an incredible pace. And at 202 metres, one of the most impressive additions is going to be the Heron Tower, constructed almost entirely of glass and steel.
Designed by architects, KPF, the tower embodies the idea that form follows function. The building is - in the architects' own words – "organised around a series of office 'villages' [complementing] both the technical and social demands of the modern workplace". There are 11 "villages" spread over the 33 storeys of offices, with each taking up three floors.
Three-storey "villages"
Each village "center" consists of an atrium three floors high, which can be used for different purposes, such as trading floors, libraries, exhibition areas or meeting places. Mobility can be enhanced by adding "bridges" or staircases to connect floors around the atria. Each village has views of Bishopsgate, the main thoroughfare on which the tower is located (near Liverpool Street station).
Workers coming into the tower will be directed to the elevator taking the fastest route to their "village", thanks to Schindler's user access and traffic management systems. These control the 18 elevators serving the tower, including ten glass double-decks, six of which are embedded in the perimeter wall. Visible from the street below, the glass cars will glide up and down the structure, revealing increasingly spectacular vistas of London as they climb.
Mobility in the tower is assisted by two Schindler escalators, which deliver passengers to the upper or lower car of the double-decks, depending on their destination. Visitors heading for the rooftop restaurant and bar will be whisked skywards at five metres per second in shuttle elevators installed specifically for that purpose. Passengers using the high-rise glass double-decks will be travelling even faster – at seven metres per second.
No detail overlooked
The architects paid special attention to the elevators, insisting that their appearance be in keeping with the rest of building. Turning that vision into reality was the job of Schindler Design Engineer, Simon Müller. "The elevators are totally custom made for the tower, right down to the brackets that hold the guide rails to the building.
"The reason the architects are so passionate about the usually hidden components is precisely because the occupants will able to see every part of the elevator," Simon Müller continues. "The passenger elevators are made almost entirely of glass; the only other material used is the steel for the structure and components."
Notable too are the operating panels in the elevator cars: each is an image of the Heron Tower which allows passengers to see precisely where the elevator is at any given moment.
Environmental credentials
Apart from the aesthetic impact on London's skyline, the Heron Tower will have a significant influence on its immediate surroundings, not least with the creation of a green public space around the base of the structure.
The building's environmental credentials are every bit as impressive as its architectural ones. The glass façades and the three-storey atria allow daylight deep into the interior of the structure, keeping artificial lighting to a minimum. The double-deck elevators and staircases on the perimeter wall are also lit by daylight, and in mid-season ventilated naturally.
The tower will use adiabatic cooling (which keeps heat transfer at a minimum) and an ice storage facility to stay cool, significantly reducing energy input. Full heat recovery is provided by air handling plant rooms, each serving a village of three floors. The Schindler elevators play their part too: all are equipped with the facility to regenerate excess energy back into the system. Moreover, Schindler's state-of-the-art traffic management system saves energy by directing users to elevator taking the most direct route to their floor.
London rising
National Key Account Manager, John Bradshaw believes the rising of London offers much potential for Schindler, which has already made its mark on Canary Wharf with The Barclays Bank World Wide Headquarters Building (BP1) and at Wembley Stadium. "High quality office space in the City of London is at a premium," he says.
With six towers either approved or under construction in the City, Londoners will have to get used to a very different skyline. But what will be familiar, in the Heron Tower at least, are the double-decks, even if these are travelling vertically and with Swiss precision.
Reference Projects
Heron Tower, London
Begovaya Tower, Moscow
ICC, Hong Kong
Federation Tower, Moscow
CMA-CGM Tower, Marseille
WTC3 Beijing
Begovaya Tower, Moscow
ICC, Hong Kong
Federation Tower, Moscow
CMA-CGM Tower, Marseille
WTC3 Beijing
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