in detail


developments in the UK underpinned by some of the most stringent environmental and sustainable development standards ever applied to an urban development in this country,” says Keith Whitmore, director of design and construction for Westfield Shopping Centres. The extremely large and complex building requires sophisticated knowledge of structure, fire and M&E systems as well as energy and thermal performance. Until 2006, the project had been developed in concept and masterplanned, but it gained major impetus in 2006 when London was named host city for the 2012 spectacle. It was then that a full design and construction team was put in place. Enabling works started in January 2007 with main construction beginning a year later. “We’re on programme to deliver the base build in February and to open the mixed retail and leisure centre this September,” confirms Whitmore. The scale of the project has created something of a jobs bonanza, with up to 4,500 workers on site daily. There are also more than 100 stakeholders and interested parties involved in the scheme from High Speed One/Eurostar and London Organising Committee of the Olympic and Paralympic Games to artists such as Tracey Emin, which presents challenges says Whitmore. “Not all parties want the same outcome, so we have to ensure we have adequately robust strategies to maintain a relatively single-minded project focus. From the start, we established


overarching guidelines to take in all manner of disciplines and interests.” He says functionality has shaped the


design strategy at every stage. “From the earliest manifestations of the masterplan, the network of public open spaces was the driver for the arrangement of buildings and uses, ensuring we had a mix of building access areas - retail, cafes, offices, hotels and public transportation – in the key nodal spaces, as well as activity in the form of shops and cafes at the ground floors of all street frontages.” Functionality was equally critical in shaping the architects’ response to a brief. “Put simply, offices needed to work as offices, hotels as hotels and department stores as department stores to fulfil their role as civic buildings in the context of this new piece of city, while also recognising the commercial requirements of their tenants,” says Whitmore.


Energy performance Under planning requirements, Westfield’s building energy performance must gain at least a 10 per cent improvement against 2006 Part L2 (excluding the use of CCHP). The design team had to ensure the thermal characteristics of the general building envelope and the building services and lighting designs were more energy efficient than standard compliant buildings. An example of this is the use of thermal wheels on all air handling plant to increase energy recovery. Whitmore aims to achieve a BREEAM


rating of ‘excellent’, and has made key decisions during the project design stages to ensure that this requirement has been incorporated into the design. (See box on page 14) A close working relationship with


Newham’s building control team has kept the project on time, on budget and to the satisfaction of its multiple stakeholders. The team is based on site, which makes for easier communication and means issues can be more quickly resolved. Design submissions and approvals are the subject of twice-weekly meetings, while Newham’s site inspection team liaises with Westfield’s construction quality control team every week. “We’ve established a strong working relationship with both the design compliance team and the site inspection team. They’ve been superb throughout the project; I can’t fault them,” says Whitmore. With a project of this size and complexity, one of the biggest challenges is the flow of information and approvals required for the compliance parts of the building regulations as well as the tracking and recording of approvals. As an indicator of the transparency of the relationship with the building control team, the approval process is recorded on a tracking document, which is reviewed and monitored at the twice- weekly compliance meetings. Flexibility has been a key facet of the


relationship, says Whitmore. “Newham has been open-minded and not run everything from a rule book; which is a refreshing approach that has enabled the building


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