The Crystal opens in London

28 Sep 2012

'A Sustainable Cities Initiative by Siemens',?The Crystal is a?glass-clad conference centre designed and developed by Arup, Wilkinson Eyre and Pringle Brandon. With over 6,300m² of floorspace, it will serve as a focal point for discussion about sustainable urban living.

Completed in less than two and a half years, The Crystal has been designed to?achieve BREEAM Outstanding and LEED Platinum building ratings???providing a blueprint for the future of sustainable commercial developments in urban areas.

Arup was responsbile for many of innovative technological solutions that contribute to sustainable performance of the building. The Crystal is 90% water self-sufficient and is the first building in the UK to have an approved Water Safety Plan.

"We are delighted and proud of the part Arup played in the design of The Crystal. It is an exciting achievement, and the Arup team has demonstrated that a technology-rich approach to building performance can continue to reduce the use of valuable resources such as water. The Crystal shows that with intelligent design, we can respond to the need for buildings to be increasingly energy efficient, without the use of fossil fuels.

Environmental excellence has long been a cornerstone of Arup philosophy, and our current portfolio demonstrates how we continue to live and breathe this creativity and passion as we design our buildings."

+?David Richards
???Director, Arup

An all-electric building, The Crystal consumes no fossil fuels on site. Pumps seasonally store energy in the ground for heating and cooling, and 1,580m² of high-efficiency photovoltaics are integrated into the roofscape, which are predicted to generate up to 20% of the total energy demand. The building is also enabled for a smart grid connection, and boasts an extensive management system that provides users an unprecedented degree of control over their internal environment. The power scheme is fully monitored???performance figures are streamed in real time allowing the building to be continually 'tuned' to ensure peak energy performance at all times.

Situated on the waterfront at the western end of the Royal Victoria Docks in East London, The Crystal opened to the public on 29 September 2012.

Source: http://www.arup.com/Home/News/2012_09_September/28_Sep_The_Crystal_the_future_of_building_performance.aspx

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