The Challenge:
The occupier, London Borough Camden Council wanted an exemplary building to demonstrate how mixed uses and the highest standards of sustainability (which they insist upon as a planning authority) could be met in their own project. Commissioned during the recession, the project was under intense public scrutiny to ensure rigorous cost control.
Our brief required a major leisure centre (including two swimming pools), a library, café and highly visible service centre to provide information and services to Camden residents. Above the public floors we were challenged to provide 10 storeys of office space for Camden staff. This had to meet ambitious objectives for culture change, providing a range of workplace types that foster better communication and team spirit.
To complicate matters, the 5 Pancras Square site is restricted on all sides and neighbours the busy St Pancras international station, resulting in a meticulous approach to construction, planning and approval.
The Solution:
We worked closely with the end user, our client and stakeholders such as Network Rail, to ensure safe construction of this unusual and complex mixed-use office
The final building displays technical excellence; the public and private spaces of the building are separated by a bold transfer structure at second floor level with the upper floors provide flexible office accommodation. Offsite manufacture was used for the M&E services, trench heating and the hybrid unitised façade.
The building is made using sustainably sourced materials, with little site waste. It is future-proofed, offering flexible floor space, intelligent low-energy servicing solutions and good natural lighting levels.
Throughout build we gave many of Camden Council’s staff a sense of the building, hosting tours and creating a sample office for testing of fixtures and fittings. This gave them an understanding of the new building, and the ways of working it would promote, easing along the organisational change journey.
The Impact:
The result is one of the most sustainable buildings in the country that has improved the Council’s working practices and delivered a vibrant new hub for Camden residents.
By bringing the majority of Camden Council’s office-based staff to one site, Five Pancras Square enables the Council to deliver better, more efficient public services and achieve important cost savings. Through selling old inefficient offices and moving to the new site, the Council will cut carbon emissions by an estimated 64% and reduce annual energy costs by over £500,000.
The project also left its mark within construction, with wide industry recognition received. 5 Pancras Square has won over 20 awards, including the Prime Minister’s Better Public Building, Construction Manager of the Year Gold Medal for Project Manager James Carpenter as well as recognition from BREEAM, CIBSE, Considerate Constructors, BCI, Construction News and the Building Awards.
" It is great to see a building that not only shows an absolute commitment to creating a superb space for people to work, take exercise, have fun and relax in, but also one that takes account of the environment and broader aspects of sustainability. An excellent example to others of what can be achieved through the use of BREEAM with a well-informed client and design team. "Martin Townsend Director of BREEAM BRE
View more projects
Every project we deliver is an opportunity for us to bring our unique thinking to solve problems, innovate and collaborate with our clients and beyond.
Butlin’s Splash, Bognor Regis
Building a £40m state of the art swimming pool and leisure complex within the existing Butlin’s resort in Bognor Regis, West Sussex.
Project Maia - Infineum
Delivery of a 33,500ft2 Global Centre of Innovation at Infineum’s headquarters in Abingdon; featuring new petrochemical laboratories for research and development into new formulas for fuel additives; collaborative meeting spaces, office accommodation, a new staff restaurant and improved site infrastructure.
Trago Mills
Developing the first site outside Devon and Cornwall for Trago Mills, an independent, family owned and run discount leisure retailer. Bringing much needed employment to the area it includes 11 retail units, external sales area, café, garden centre, goods yard, ice cream stall, bandstand, adventure dome and model railway.
Greenwood Centre
Redevelopment of 25 & 37 Greenwood Place to provide a new 3,600m2 resource and community services centre run by people with disabilities, for people with disabilities. As part of Camden Council’s Community Investment Programme (CIP) it forms a hub for all services that was previously spread across the borough.
Gloucester Transport Hub
A unique and distinctive regeneration project promoting Gloucester’s unparalleled heritage from archaeology to aviation. The Hub is a highly symbolic part of the rejuvenation of the main entry point into the city, a gateway used in Roman times which is now served by both road and rail.
3 Sovereign Square
Developing a new, six-storey office building in central Leeds, ensuring the design blended in with the surrounding historic buildings, using lean planning to ensure the smooth running of the project, applying innovative thinking to the build, and achieving an Excellent BREEAM sustainability rating.
St Sidwells Point Leisure Centre
Creating the UK’s first Passivhaus standard ultra-low carbon leisure centre, designed to save up to 70% on annual energy costs.
Aerospace Bristol
Creating a new £19m aviation museum showcasing the role played by the Bristol site in Britain’s aviation history, including a hangar to house the last Concorde ever to fly, restoring a Grade 1 listed First World War hangar to create an exhibition space
5 Pancras Square
One of the most sustainable mixed-use building in the country and winner of the Prime Minister’s Better Public Building award.
Pall Mall, Liverpool
Kier was selected by Liverpool City Council to deliver a new mixed commercial quarter known as Pall Mall, in partnership with CTP.
Everards Meadows Phase 1A
Creating a vibrant destination in Leicestershire, incorporating a new cycle centre and cafe as well as site-wide green infrastructure.
Storyhouse
Developing Chester's largest and most ambitious ever creative project, working in a restricted city centre location, adapting the programme when a Roman building was discovered on site, restoring and revitalising a Grade II Listed building, creating new cultural spaces and receiving the Arts Council's highest ever score for a building.
Chesterfield Borough Council partnership
Utilising assets and facilities management to enable Chesterfield Borough Council to generate significant annual rent to fund services.
Everards Meadows Phase 1B
Working collaboratively with Everards to regenerate land previously occupied by their brewing facilities, for the benefit of the people of Leicestershire.
Cheltenham Racecourse Redevelopment
Delivering a new 6,500-capacity 5 ½ storey grandstand at one Britain’s most iconic racecourses.
Heron House
Refurbishment of a six-storey vibrant public building in Manchester City Centre, creating over £12.2m of social return on investment.
North Sea Observatory
A unique purpose-built marine observatory on the Lincolnshire coastline.
Bicester Eco Business Centre
The design and construction of a highly sustainable Passivhaus ‘Plus’ 1,400m2 office building. Laid out over three floors to accommodate up to 125 people, providing local office space for individuals and small businesses.
Aberdeen Music Hall
Restoring, renovating and extending this prestigious Grade A listed performing arts building, utilising building conservation techniques whilst internally upgrading the interiors and finishes to a high quality and installing new, modern building services and a/v equipment throughout.
Reading Gateway
Identifying this 20.5 acre site in Reading as a strategic development opportunity, delivering a retail and leisure scheme including new homes, a hotel, retail space, car showrooms and industrial units, trailing new innovations and generating 263 jobs and £138m of social value.
FA Parklife
As part of the Football Association’s master-plan to build new football facilities in 30 cities by 2020, Kier have successfully delivered four all-purpose football hubs using state of the art 3G artificial grass at key grass-root areas across Liverpool.
Alfred H Knight's Office and Analytical Laboratory
Alfred H Knight is a commodity analysis and mining support specialist who required our design and cost management services to build a new state-of-the-art head office and analytical laboratory.
The Aperture
The Aperture is the first phase of residential buildings on the Greenwich Peninsula. This five storey building comprises of a restaurant and deli on the ground floor, day nursery on the first floor, estate management and a community centre on the second/third floors with a gym on the remaining floors.
Hampton by Hilton, Bristol Airport
The construction of a hotel consisting of 201 bedrooms over four floors, utilising significant offsite manufacture.
The Ogilvie Building
The Ogilvie (formerly known as the Sanger Sequencing Building) provides 4,430m² of flexible laboratory and office space and an integrated energy centre which will feed future developments on the greenfield site.
S-Skills for Highways
Partnering Surrey County Council with an innovative scheme that brings vulnerable people in social care into the workplace, supporting these candidates to be able to carry out basic highway works in the community and helping tackle the national social care time bomb.
Utility Conflict Resolution for Edinburgh Trams
A high profile 3km route clearance of 1500 utility conflicts through Edinburgh city centre, delivered within budget and achieving all programme milestones, whilst minimising disruption to local businesses and residents.
Sheffield North Active
Transforming a tired council facility into a modern new leisure centre in the north of Sheffield, adhering to Sport England guidelines and taking on board local concerns, introducing a bold exterior design and keeping to tight deadlines.
Glasgow Fort
Constructing a new retail unit that included remodelling existing car parks, a major re-alignment of the existing spine road - including removal of roundabouts - significant public utility services diversions and installation of toucan crossings.
Walsall Waterfront Leisure
Completing the penultimate phase of the £65m waterfront development, taking it through the planning process, regenerating over 17 acres in Walsall including The Light Cinema and popular national restaurant chains, making the most of a canalised location and engaging with the local community.
Watford Riverwell
Delivering the £450m Watford Riverwell as a 15-20 year joint venture with Watford Borough Council, which involved regenerating 70 acres of land in West Watford to create residential, office, retail, leisure, industrial and hotel space.
Yr Egin Media and Office Development
Bringing an iconic and sustainable development to the Carmarthen campus of the University of Wales, providing 40,000 sq. ft. of accommodation for for Welsh Media company S4C and the University's new media faculty and offices, and achieving a BREEAM Excellent certificate for sustainability.
58 Victoria Embankment
Located on the River Thames Embankment, this project involved the demolition of the existing building behind a retained façade and the construction of a new steel framed Cat A office with a concrete basement. Inside the building, being the main feature is the central atrium and 3 scenic glass lifts.
Camberley Town Centre
Create a mixed-use regeneration scheme on this strategic site.
Princes Gate Retail Park
Creating a new retail and leisure heart for the town comprising 23 shops, restaurants and bars, together with a multi-screen Empire cinema, 60 bed Premier Inn hotel and a 345 space car park.
Motel One
Transforming a derelict building into a 172 bedroom modern boutique hotel, retaining and preserving many historic features uncovered during the work.
Materials Analysis Laboratory
New head office and analytical laboratory for metallurgical consultants.
Gibraltar Point Visitor Centre
Creating a new visitor centre at this Site of Special Scientific Interest after the previous one was damaged by a tidal surge, ensuring its protection from flooding and its coastal position, incorporating sustainable features and refurbishing an 1800s coastguard building to be used as an exhibition space.
Howick Place
Situated close to Westminster Cathedral, Howick Place is an architecturally stunning building designed by Rolfe Judd Architecture. The building takes inspiration from the surrounding conservation area, whilst creating an environment to meet all 21st century needs.
Finlake Leisure Pool
Designing and constructing a new leisure complex within this holiday village on the edge of the Dartmoor National Park in Devon, including toddler and 20m adult swimming pools, Tornado and Twister flume rides, and water playground, gymnasium, other leisure facilities and associated plant and equipment.
Crewe Lifestyle Centre
Creating a viable and affordable facility that brought all Crewe's lifestyle services - pool, gym, sports hall, library, specialist daycare and family service facilities - together under one roof, meeting a diverse range of user needs and building within a constrained town centre site.
Huntington Community Primary School
Blending traditional and innovative solutions to create a new-build, two-storey, 420-place primary school and 26-place nursery in Chester.
Tiger Way
Kier Design and Business Services working in partnership with the London Borough of Hackney to deliver mixed-use developments and education schemes to create revenue for further local investment.
33 Foley Street
Delivering a central London office space where people feel inspired and want to work and collaborate, bringing together a number of Kier businesses to work jointly on the project, adding an extra floor to the building and extending two other floors to create a stunning modern space.
Working Roots
Setting up and running a project aimed at giving unemployed young people the opportunity to work on variety of projects at Kier North Tyneside, working with North Tyneside Council and Justice Prince ( a community interest company), and helping the young people learn new skills and grow in confidence.
Oldham Town Hall
Restoring an iconic building, taking part in feasibility studies to decide the best use of the building, working on the project to turn it into a seven-screen cinema with restaurants, coffee shop and retail units, winning multiple industry awards and creating something of huge importance to local people.
Wedge House
Building a striking new build boutique hotel with works comprising the design, construction and fit out of 192 hotel rooms, 4,700m2 Cat A office space and full fit out of three floors of bars and restaurants.
One Station Square
Working with Newlon Housing Trust, the project involves the demolition of the existing structure and the design and construction of a new residential development of 128 dwellings comprising 117 shared ownership flats,11 private sale flats plus 1 commercial unit to shell and core finish.
Dyson, Hullavington
The design and redevelopment of a World War II hanger, to create a new research and development centre for Dyson.
Shire Hall
The re-emergence of Gloucestershire County Council’s (GCC) Shire Hall after its retrofit and refurbishment reads like a fairy-tale. Over 165 weeks and 82 phases of collaborative, innovative team-working, the part-listed, part 1960’s building, an eyesore, tired and inefficient, was responsibly and dynamically transformed into an elegant and highly sustainable workplace.
Flintshire Adult Day Care Centre
Delivering new state-of-the-art community day care facilities and social care services for vulnerable adults with varying degrees of learning disabilities. The new facility in North Wales was the 1000th project procured through the Scape National Minor Works framework.
‘The Biosphere’ Helix Development
Design and construction of a new 7,200m2 laboratory facility. The building consists of a mixture of biology and chemistry spaces, office spaces, unfitted spaces and associated external infrastructure works. The facility has two floors of containment level 2 fitted labs and write-up areas, together with shared wash-up facilities.
Piries Place Car Park
New carpark, with iconic 14.5m living wall, provides much-needed, modern spacious multi-level parking facilities, completing the regeneration of Piries Place, an historic area of Horsham in West Sussex. Delivered through the Scape National Minor Works framework, the new car park, provides 189 additional spaces.
Ericsson - Radio Access Network Framework
The RAN (Radio Access Network) is the technology used in the UK to allow mobile phones to transmit and receive data and voice services. Ericsson are a leading provider of RAN access to many of the UK’s mobile networks and in 2013, we were appointed by Ericsson to maintain its RAN assets to keep the UK’s 4G and 5G networks live and operational
Ecclesiastical Insurance Group Headquarters
Ecclesiastical Insurance Group, one of Gloucester’s biggest employers, had offices throughout the city which were not considered future proof. They decided to consolidate all Gloucester based staff into a new purpose-build headquarters on Gloucester Business Park. The building is leased from Arlington, owners of the business park, and long-term clients of Kier.