News 15th October 2014

Landmark 96.31% BREEAM Outstanding score achieved at PwC’s HQ

The refurbishment of PwC’s Embankment Place HQ has surpassed the sustainability achievements of its new build offices at 7 More London Riverside, achieving a landmark 96.31% BREEAM Outstanding score.

Embankment Place is an iconic building on the London skyline. Situated above Charing Cross station, it is a technically complex structure which is essentially ‘hung’ from 9 tied arches with cantilevers on both sides, all sitting on 35m deep piles. The ambitious refurbishment programme set out to revitalise the dated, lightless and inefficient workspaces while around 2,000 staff remained in occupation.

PwC’s aim was to create a modern flexible workplace that reflected their market leading brand position for 4,500 people by completely transforming the perception and reality of this 450,000 sq ft building. Fundamental to this was an extremely collaborative and innovative design approach which defined the development teams’ style in the two year programme. From the outset, PwC, tp Bennett, Overbury, Turner & Townsend and Chapman BDSP worked closely to ensure that the supply chain’s knowledge and expertise were harnessed to achieve the highest sustainability and programme efficiencies.

The design concept for each of the floors centre around a ‘heart space’ which links the existing North atrium and South atriums that have become a central feature of the building. A cantilevered staircase on the South side links staff floors, connecting refreshment and communal working spaces. Agile based working offers 3,150 workstations for 4,500 staff operated through a ‘hoteling’ system. Two scenic lifts on the North side connects visitors with the seminar, meeting rooms and business lounge on the first level with the executive meeting and dining spaces on the ninth floor offering scenic views across London.

This highly sustainable refurbishment has delivered a state of the art HQ for PwC that will last another 20 to 25 years.

  • Some interesting facts about the refurbishment:
  • 4,000 people inducted on-site during works
  • 600 people carried out the refurbishment
  • 30,000 sheets of plasterboard used
  • 300,000 meters of cabling fitted
  • 2 football pitches of glass installed
  • 64 toilet blocks replaced