Greenwich Peninsula Low Carbon Energy Centre

The Greenwich Peninsula Low Carbon Energy Centre is an important new feature for one of London’s busy urban areas. Situated in a prominent location, adjacent to the Blackwall Tunnel Approach, the energy centre forms part of a major development which includes 15,700 new homes and over 300,000 square metres of office space.

The new building features a uniquely designed flue chimney, which will become a new landmark for the area. The tower forms part of the building which houses advanced boilers and combined heat and power plant that distributes heat energy, via a District Heating Network (DHN) from the energy centre to each plot of land across the new development.

The 49 metre tall flue has been turned into an architectural statement that has been designed by British artist Conrad Shawcross. The cladding on the tower is formed of hundreds of triangular panels that create geometric patterns. The end result is an uneven, sculptured surface that features integrated lighting to produce a series of shifting colours.

The new development seeks to demystify the process of generating energy as it features a visitor centre. This will allow groups of visitors an opportunity to understand how the energy is being generated. The energy centre will provide heat for  thousands of new homes and businesses which are being erected in the area. As a whole, the Greenwich Peninsula project will become the largest residential new-build district heating system in Europe.

Billington Structures provided and erected 345 tonnes of galvanised structural steel for the atypical flue tower at the Greenwich Peninsula. It will be constructed with five ladder frames each placed 4.5m apart. There were a number of unusual factors to take into consideration for such a complex design and build, such as safety and weather resistance, but Billington were able to meet all of the challenges and deliver the project on time for this complex steel structure.