Balfour Beatty Engineering Services (BBES) has commenced a £30 million contract for the design and installation of new mechanical and electrical (M&E) services as part of the refurbishment and extension of Sea Containers House – the second largest building on the River Thames' South Bank.

As part of the highly challenging city centre scheme, BBES will utilise a number of innovative approaches to deliver a sustainable and high quality M&E package. This has included creating a full scale floor services mock up to show design approach prior to construction commencing and using offsite prefabrication to reduce local environment impact and ensure safer working conditions.

Delivered by Byrne Group for building owners Archlane, the £120 million landmark project will see 13 floors of existing office space converted into a 360-bedroom hotel and the construction of a nine-storey extension. Located between the prestigious Oxo Tower and Blackfriars Bridge, access to Sea Containers House is extremely restricted with the site facing the River Thames and with central London behind.


A key challenge of the project has been the design of new M&E systems that can be retrofitted into the restricted slab-to-slab space of the 1970s building. To overcome this BBES created a floor mock-up off-site to help finalise the design whilst demonstrating to the client that the company could overcome the space restrictions. This mock up showed how this could be achieved with a well-designed and modularised heating, ventilation and lighting system, to provide an office space compliant with the British Council of Offices (BCO) – the best practice guidelines for office development.

With sustainability a key element on every BBES project, the company will be looking to minimise its environmental impact. A large amount of the M&E elements – including a series of modular service risers – will be designed and built at BBES Modular Systems + manufacturing and assembly facility in Wednesbury, West Midlands. Using offsite prefabrication techniques will enable BBES to meet the project schedule, deliver savings in working hours and costs, and overcome the logistical challenges of working within a city centre location.

The use of offsite fabrication will also be instrumental in maintaining the BBES policy of embedding sustainability into everything the company does. Integrating modularised M&E elements will reduce the effect on city centre traffic and deliver significant savings on the site's carbon footprint.

The comprehensive project includes the design, supply and installation of new central heating plant and connections as well as the installation of two new MV (Medium Voltage) distribution panel boards, four 11kV package substations and a 2mVA Generator set complete with associated power distribution. BBES will also be designing and installing the complete lighting, ventilation and water service provision for the extension and refurbished building.

(CD)