System Five is proud to have been selected by Mala Engineering to join the team which is led by Principal Contractor Mace and award-winning architects, Matt Architecture, working on the refurbishment of the Grade II listed Baltic Exchange at 38 St Mary Axe which is the headquarters of The Baltic Exchange, the international shipping exchange.
The Baltic Exchange organisation was established in 1744 and represents a global community of shipping interests. These include shipowners, charterers and shipbrokers who are collectively responsible for handling a large proportion of the world’s dry cargo and tanker fixtures, freight derivative trades as well as the sale and purchase of merchant vessels.
38 St Mary’s Axe was constructed for Spillers Industries and The Exchange moved into the building in 1995, after its original historic home, just next door, was severely damaged by an IRA bomb which killed three and injured one hundred people in 1992. The Exchange’s original home was subsequently demolished, and the site is now occupied by the iconic 30 St Mary Axe – The Gherkin.
The architects describe the Baltic Exchange project as a “deep refurbishment” which will create the City’s first BREAAM Outstanding listed building. One of the many significant improvements planned is a glazed ‘notch’ which will introduce natural light into the deepest part of the building providing external amenity space for the well-being of occupants. The project also includes full replacement of the air handling systems, alongside more passive measures to improve the environmental performance, such as replacement windows and upgrading of the thermal envelope.
Engineers from System Five’s Project Team are currently in the design phase of our contribution and will be on site later this year. Our plans include the installation of a new BEMS comprising a Trend Control Systems IQ Vision based supervisory system and three control cubicles all serving mechanical and electrical plant including the VRF system, AHUs, air source heat pumps, fans, ACUs, pumps, switchboards, UPS, PDUs, leak detection, meters and frost protection and trace heating systems. All of which will enable the building to operate at peak efficiency whilst ensuring occupant comfort and wellbeing.