The St Botolph Building, in the City of London, developed for Minerva, provides over 560,000 sq ft of lettable space and features the largest single group of TWIN® lifts in the world and the first in a new office building in the UK.
Grontmij | Roger Preston and Partners was responsible for designing all of the base build engineering services and systems for the building, including specifying the revolutionary TWIN® lift system, which has delivered an additional 16,000 sq ft of lettable area.
Having been involved with the project since its inception, Grontmij | Roger Preston and Partners’ specialist vertical transportation consultancy team provided strategic advice and value led analysis throughout the early design stages of the project. This analysis determined a TWIN® lift system to be first a viable and then preferred option for the passenger lifts within the building.
The TWIN® lift system required significantly less core space than a conventional lifting system. This design element helped create the striking architectural centre piece, where all sixteen scenic lift cars are located in a dramatic 13 storey central atrium founded in an impressive double height reception space.
TWIN® works by adopting sophisticated destination control technology to permit two lift cars to run independently in each lift well. Serving to and from two distinct lobby levels, the sixteen cars are arranged in eight lift wells and are free to move in the same or opposing directions according to the needs of the passengers. A robust multi-layered safety system, more commonly found in the likes of the nuclear industry, ensures passenger safety at all times.
Geoffrey Palmer, managing director of Grontmij | Roger Preston and Partners, said: "I am delighted with the achievements at The St Botolph Building and feel this project is an excellent showcase for the capabilities of our specialist team, ensuring delivery and adding value beyond our engineering remit As is our usual working method, this has been a fully collaborative effort developed in partnership between ourselves, Minerva and Grimshaw."
For further information please contact:
James Hickman
Hatch Communications
Tel: 01943 855 624
Email: jameshickman@hatchpr.co.uk