Hip American hotelier André Balazs has chosen a council office block in King’s Cross for his next boutique hotel.

André Balazs Properties is partnering with Crosstree Real Estate Partners to convert the Camden town hall annexe, and open the first Standard Hotel in Europe.

The redevelopment of Camden Town Hall Annexe will see the existing 1970’s concrete frame office building transformed into a 270 bed luxury boutique hotel, located in a prime London location opposite St. Pancras International and King’s Cross stations.

The building has been designed to achieve a BREEAM status of ‘Very Good’ and will be one of the first UK hotels to install Waste Water Heat Recovery systems for Showers (WWHRS) to the majority of its’ rooms. A move that will see the significant reduction in both hot water costs; energy consumption and Carbon Dioxide emissions.

The Recoup Pipe+ HE is the most efficient WWHRS system of its type available in the UK. It is a passive heat exchanger system that recovers heat energy from shower water waste and recycles it back into the hot water system.

The Pipe+ HE can recover up to 67% of the heat energy that would normally be wasted down the drain. Recoup WWHRS systems have no moving parts; require no external energy sources; require no planned maintenance and no end-user interaction – They simply offer on-demand energy savings with every shower.

The M&E design by ARUP, currently being installed by Michael J Lonsdale, has cleverly utilised the majority of the Recoup Pipe+ HE units in a 2:1 scenario. Where 1 x WWHRS unit is connected to 2 x individual showers via back-to-back bathroom units, in an effort to maximise ROI.

In this way, ARUP has maximised cost-effectiveness of the design and worked within the constraints of the existing building shell, while ultimately maintaining the efficiency and energy saving potential of the WWHRS units.

The 184,000 sq ft scheme includes the extension of 3 further floors; a new architectural curtain walling and cladding system to the upper floors; and an external glass scenic lift from street level to the tenth floor restaurant. M&E fit-out is currently underway, with completion expected in February 2018. McLaren Construction are the main contractors for the project, with project management by TowerEight.

To understand more about how to model WWHRS in your BREEAM project or under SBEM, contact us or take a look at our BREEAM & SBEM articles.