Building Awards 2011 shortlist: Harlequin 1

Harlequin 1, London submitted by Bovis Lend Lease

Broadcasting studios were once the epitome of energy guzzling inefficiency and reckless environmental waste. But Sky’s groundbreaking new headquarters in south-west London has set the international benchmark that proves this need no longer be the case. Already the winner of the UK Green Building Council Sustainability Award, Harlequin 1’s pioneering sustainable design has reduced overall energy consumption in the building by 67% of what would normally be expected in an equivalent development. Strategies include extensive natural ventilation, wind turbines, solar orientation optimisation and silent cooling mechanisms. These achievements are all the more impressive in light of the intense technical requirements demanded by a building of this type with millions of feet of cabling and acoustically sensitive studios. Its architectural form also proudly reflects its environmental priorities with its principal elevation lined with ventilation “chimneys” expressed as monumental vertical shafts.

Each day in the lead up to the Building Awards ceremony next month, we will profile one of the finalists in the Project of the Year and Public Building Project of the Year. The winners will be announced as the Building Awards ceremony taking place on April 7. To book a table at the Building Awards visit the web site here.