ATTRACTIONS
Power House
Siemens’ new flagship facility shows how eco-technologies can enhance the built environment – and offers a new type of green visitor attraction in London’s Docklands
L
ocated at the heart of London’s first Green Enterprise District, the new £30m Siemens Centre for
Urban Sustainability (otherwise known by its more user-friendly name of the Crystal) is the latest development to open as part of ambitious plans to regenerate the south-east London ‘Olympic’ Borough of Newham. The building – designed by Wilkinson
Eyre Architects, with interiors created by Pringle Brandon Perkins + Will and engineered by Arup – is a sleek and striking piece of geometric architec- ture, but it’s the site’s environmental
credentials that really make it shine. Conceived as one of the world’s few all-electric public buildings, the Crystal is targeting top ratings in the world standards for green design and con- struction – ‘Outstanding’ in BREEAM and ‘Platinum’ in LEED. Owner Siemens is one of the world’s
largest providers of environmental tech- nologies, with around 40 per cent of its total revenue coming from green prod- ucts and solutions. Stefan Denig, head of communications and marketing at the Siemens Center of Competence, Cities – the department now based at the Crystal – says: “The technologies
used in the building are cutting-edge but they're also existing technologies that can be employed by customers today. We hope the Crystal will be a recognised centre for thought leader- ship on sustainable cities.” The company says it conceived the 2,000sq m space as a global hub to promote environmental dialogue and research – and also as a multi-media visitor attraction (with an absence of Siemens branding) that shows the environmental challenges facing cities around the world. With 50 per cent of the world’s population currently living in cities, and predictions that this will
The building's crystalline geometry was designed by Wilkinson Eyre
62 Read Leisure Management online
leisuremanagement.co.uk/digital ISSUE 1 2013 © cybertrek 2013
PHOTOS: ©FRANCK FOLLET AND EVENT COMMUNICATIONS
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