Chiswick Green, London

Surpassing expectations: from concept to completion

In a prime location on a key West London arterial route, BAM created an energy efficient modern office building .

Not far from the M4 junction, 610 Chiswick High Road was designed and developed by BAM between 2010 and 2012 to provide 82,000 sq ft of Grade ‘A’ office space. Sustainability was high on the agenda for this impressive project, which marked a rekindling of interest in speculative development in the West of the capital, following the financial crash of 2008.

Project details

Developer: BAM Properties
Contractor: BAM Construction
Architect: BAM Design
M&E consultants: BAM Design
Structural engineer: BAM Design
Project Manager: Gardiner & Theobald
Quantity Surveyor: Randall Symonds LLP

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40,000 kWh

of electricity a year produced by the photovoltaic array

award

Silver in the Considerate Constructors Scheme (CCS) 2009

70%

uplift in development density

BAM was the first developer to resume speculative development in the West London market after the collapse in the financial markets in 2008.

Chiswick’s comparative affordability is leading a growing number of companies to locate there.

BAM’s development at 610 Chiswick High Road provides top-quality accommodation to meet that demand. Not surprisingly, shortly after completion the building was let to Viasat, the Swedish communications giant. The development was subsequently sold to the M&G Property Portfolio for £47.7m.

Chiswick Green is an excellent example of a collaborative BAM project that achieved the high expectations set at the design stage. The six-storey building features modern, open-plan working spaces with high specification finishes. The main entrance is finished in all white and natural light floods the building through a full-height glazed curtain wall on the main elevations.

Inside, flexible floor plates were created, which can be sub-let for a variety of tenancies. The building has also been future-proofed, with the core and building services designed so each floor can be let and serviced separately to suit future market requirements.

Heat and light

The high-performance glazing minimises solar gain and internal temperature fluctuations. The translucent blue and green fins on the exterior are not just for decoration. They function as a brise soleil system to deflect the sun’s rays as they hit the southern and western sides of the building.

The building was also designed to be as airtight as possible, to keep heat loss to a minimum in cooler weather conditions.

Inside, the lighting system uses daylight sensors and passive infrared (PIR) detectors to automatically turn the lights off when there is no-one in an office and dim the artificial lights when there is more natural light coming in through the windows.

Up on the roof, a solar photovoltaic array generates 15% of the energy needed to the run the offices.

As a result of all these measures, the building is saving an estimated 900 tonnes of CO2 a year compared to a typical 1990s building.

Art and education

During the building project, BAM joined forces with Hounslow Council and Notting Hill Construction Training to provide construction training and seven apprentice placements at the Chiswick Green site.

In collaboration with the Hounslow Education Business Partnership, BAM also helped to deliver careers sessions and curriculum support to local students.

The hoardings around the construction site provided the perfect canvas for an art exhibition to help celebrate World Environment Day. Sixth-form students from Chiswick Community School and Gunnersbury Catholic School were invited to use the space as a public art gallery, creating large-scale works inspired by award-winning British artist Julian Opie.