90 Long Acre

London, United Kingdom
In the heart of Covent Garden, right in the middle of London’s West End theatre and entertainment district, stands the office building known as “The Acre”, which has been there since the 1970s. The recent refurbishment has enabled a more modern and sustainable use concept. 80 per cent of the existing structure was retained. The focus was on reducing operational energy consumption, saving water through the use of Blue Roofs for rainwater harvesting, and the transition to renewable energy sources combined with intelligent energy monitoring.

The refurbishment of the façade played a key role in improving energy efficiency. This had to meet not only functional but also aesthetic requirements, which called for complex and technically sophisticated solutions. A precisely coordinated logistics plan and a consistently applied quality management system were essential to cope with the inner-city construction site, the wide variety of façade types, and the high proportion of existing structure that was retained.