The Crystal is part of ambitious plans to regenerate the borough of Newham


grow to 75 per cent by 2050 – these are issues that are set to affect the majority of people in the future.


Green zone There are other hopes being pinned on the new building. For the London Borough of Newham, which is already riding high on the inward investment of the London 2012 Games and the future redevelopment of the Olympic Park, the Crystal is expected to be a magnet to attract other green businesses to its Green Enterprise District. This 50sq m area, with its centre point based around the Crystal’s loca- tion in the Royal Docks near the Excel exhibition centre, is backed by the Greater London Authority, the District aims to put Newham at the heart of the capital’s drive to become a leader in the low-carbon economy.


concept


Designed as two parallelograms linked by an atrium walkway, the Crystal is a building of two halves. One half is home to around 30 Siemens staff, with hot desks available for visiting experts, a large auditorium that can be hired out for green events, a ground floor café and soon-to-open waterfront restaurant, while the other half is dedi- cated to the public exhibition space at the heart of the visitor attraction. The purpose is clearly not for Siemens to generate revenue from


ISSUE 1 2013 © cybertrek 2013


the attraction – it's currently free – although adults may be charged a nominal fee in the future. The build- ing has, however, been attracting the public’s attention. Six weeks after its official opening in late September 2012, the exhibition space had already seen 10,000 visitors through the door and was well on its way to achieving its target of 100,000 visitors annually. This may, of course, be partly down to its rather enviable location at


the foot of the new Emirates Air Line cable car across the Thames (also designed by Wilkinson Eyre) – which regularly deposits a wealth of curious visitors within a few metres of its door. The Crystal may preach the environ-


mental message to others loud and clear, but the building very much prac- tices what it preaches, chalking up a long list of eco-efficient building mate- rials and systems, some on show, some behind the scenes.


Read Leisure Management online leisuremanagement.co.uk/digital 63 green ratings


on methods that support environmental protection and sustainable development. BREEAM stands for the BRE Environmental Assessment Method, and evaluates the performance of buildings in areas such as management, energy and water use, building materials, health and well-being, pollution and land use. Buildings like the Crystal, which aim to achieve a score of over 85 per cent, are awarded a BREEAM rating of ‘Outstanding’. While BREEAM dominates the UK market, alternative


T


he Building Research Establishment (BRE), seeks to provide advice


methods of environmental assessment include Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) in the USA, Greenstar in Australia, HQE in France and CASBEE in Japan LEED is run by the US Green Building Council and currently covers projects in 135 countries. It aims to establish common standards of measurement for green buildings, recognise environmental leadership, stimulate green competition and raise consumer awareness of green building benefits. To achieve a top LEED rating


of Platinum, a project must score 80 points and above.


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