Five Fantastic Elevator Journeys for Spring (to five great outdoor bars)

It’s only when the weather picks up that you get a sense of just how many people are in this city. Cycling to work becomes a Beijing like experience and Pubs spill punters across pavements, cycle paths and side streets. So if you fancy an after work pint (or lunchtime if you’re very naughty) and don’t want it knocked out of your hand by a seasonal jogger then look up, jump in a lift, and arrive with a ding at one of London’s rooftops for an altogether calmer experience…

One

Skybar at the Mint Hotel

7 Peppys Street

Tower Hill

EC3N 4AF

Mint Skylounge

Currently my go-to place for work drinks it’s recently opened and has comprehensive cocktail, wine and whisky lists as well as some good food.  If speed impresses you then ride in the lift up to the 12^th floor for wonderful views of the city and South London.  The large west-facing balcony is excellent for smokers, sunshine sippers and in the summer an outdoor bar and BBQ.

Two

The Boundry Rooftop

2-4 Boundary Street E2 7DD

April - October

The Boundary Rooftop

The coolest on the list, the décor and relaxed atmosphere means you’re only a couple of glasses of rose away from feeling like it’s the first day a holiday.  Return to street level (in the lift obviously) for a reality check.

If this pushes your buttons but Shoreditch is a bit too east for you Coq D’argent is reassuringly in the heart of the city, fabulously French and wall to wall suits.

Three

Coq d’Argent

No.1 Poultry Street

EC2R 8EJ

www.coqdargent.co.uk/

Most Mentioned Venues:

Four

Oxo Tower

Oxo Tower Wharf

South Bank

SE1 9PH

Oxo Tower

It’s obvious, it’s been around forever and once rated as the most overpriced dining experience in London but it does have an undeniably good view of the river and North London. There’s also a public viewing deck so if you can’t afford the bar bill then you could always stop at a friendly corner shop, kick back on the deck with your BYO and see how long it takes to get booted off the premises.

Five

Kensington Roof Gardens

99 Kensington High Street

W8 5SA

Kensington Roofgardens

To satisfy the West Londoners there’s always this iconic location. Leafy luxury that’s large enough to stroll around and balmy nights its easy to inspire a summer feeling. Turn up your collar and arrive early as at peak times the limited lifts make for a slow entrance.

Coming Soon:

I ‘m due to have a tour of this building in a couple of weeks time but until then I’ll have to go by the website – it looks and sounds impressive. I will revisit this shortly!

Restaurant Skybar with Terraces

Heron Tower

110 Bishopsgate

EC2

Heron Tower Skybar

A-Z of How vertical transport can help you go green

Whether you’re looking after green credentials or company purse strings ‘energy efficiency’ will be words you’re used to seeing. Granted it is not a new topic of conversation but information on the role that vertical transport has to play in reducing a buildings overall energy use is not frequently covered.

Therefore here is a brief directory of options to consider in language that you don’t need an engineering degree to understand.                  

Destination Control

This is where you enter your desired floor in a central control panel before being directed to a specific lift rather than jumping into the first one that arrives. This optimises traffic making it potentially possible to reduce number of lifts and or derive a better service in a building. This can achieve energy savings of up to 25 – 30 % of a lift system.

Eco Efficient Operation – Escalators

Can save up to 30% energy by slowing down or stopping when not in use or increasing the efficiency of the motor in periods of low use.

Hydraulic Lifts v Electric Traction Lifts

Hydraulic lifts are energy inefficient in comparison with electric traction lifts. Hydraulic lifts should be avoided where energy efficiency is a consideration.

Life Span

Most lift and BMU installations have a design life of 20-25 years more with good maintenance. Hydraulic lifts have ‘issues’ with the oil disposal and oil leakage and ongoing maintenance etc.

Lift Drives

Soft start & stop - electronic device to control parameters coupled with variable frequency drive systems. To the non-engineers among us, this just translates into a smooth ride.

Lighting

LED and ‘eco’ efficient florescent lighting can reduce energy consumption by 80% in comparison to fluorescent lights.

Smart lighting can make additional savings meaning the lights are activated only when the lifts are in use.

Regenerative Drive Features

Regenerative drive converts the excess energy generated by an lift into electricity that can be reused elsewhere in the building. With conventional drives, this untapped energy is converted into heat, which then needs to be removed from the building by air conditioning systems.

A regenerative drive has a substantial impact on an elevator’s energy consumption and is, therefore, a must-have feature when selecting an eco-efficient elevator for a green building

When this is used in conjunction with variable frequency drive systems it can save between 40-50% energy in total.

Standby Solutions

‘Powers down’ the equipment when not in use which provides substantial reduced energy use particularly in buildings where there are periods of inactivity.

Traffic Analysis

To consider the demand and movement patterns for the building by undertaking an assessment involving the design team, this determines the optimum number and size of lifts based on the anticipated passenger demand.

The total energy consumption of the installation is also dependant on planning issues. If stairs are accessible, attractive and adjacent to the lifts, there is likely to be a reduction in the use of lifts for short trips.  It is also good to avoid over-sizing of lifts, as larger lifts result in greater inertia, larger motors and more energy use. However the focus should be on appropriately sized lifts rather than ‘the smaller the better’ in order not to compromise the service.

Variable Frequency Control of Lifts

VVVF (variable voltage, variable frequency) drive systems are essentially the newest form of drive system. An old drive system (i.e DC drive systems) had the motors and generator which results in energy being lost due to the number of elements/motors employed by the system. VVVF drive systems however encompass the technology of the equipment in one control system therefore reducing ‘lost’ energy. 

VVVF drive systems are the key to efficient lifts. Energy Savings can be as high as 30% in comparison to older DC equipment.

Vertical Transport - A hot topic for a hot location

Saudi Arabia has recently surpassed its neighbours when it comes to project spend and is also in the process of building some of the largest structures in the world. As a result Vertical Transport Saudi Arabia have partnered with Saudi Coundil of Engineers (SCE) to deliver a conference (27^th February – 2^nd March) discussing the impact of VT on building efficiency optimisation – from installation, operation, management and life-cycle maintenance.

On the Agenda:

·      Understanding the level of market sophistication in Saudi, and what the future holds
·      Analysing Saudi specific code, legislation and regulation compliance
·      Are sustainable guidelines being followed? If not, what are the future consequences to building and VT integrity in terms of life-cycle costs and emissions?
·      Investigating contracts, client approval and the decision-making process in KSA
·      Elevator safety – examining the latest technologies and methodologies
·      Maximising ROI through asset management and maintenance
·      Examining the ecological trends in the elevator industry
·      Disabled access considerations at design stage
·      Harnessing energy transfer in a building
·      Highlighting sustainable, products and practices through the supply chain

Needless to say I wouldn’t be talking about this event if we weren’t going to be a part of it.  Peter Boardman is due to feature on a Q & A panel.

For details of how to attend see the link below:

www.verticaltransportsaudi.com

Sydney Sojourn

I have just spent a very enjoyable and busy week in Australia shaking hands attempting to charm the big names in property.

Haron Robson had a successful 25th party at the top of the Museum of Contemporary Art. I got an exceptionally warm welcome, a surprise mention in the speeches and some unforgettable mini Aussie meat pies. I also met some very helpful and friendly people who I hope to see again next time I’m in town.

Amongst meetings with a variety of companies I also got introduced to the Green Building Council of Australia’s star rating system for sustainable buildings and attended the Australian Property Institute (API) award ceremony for Excellence in Property at the Powerhouse Museum. The setting for the latter was impressive, the MC quite funny and the company excellent but the awards themselves were dull as almost every entrant received a prize of some description – for the API at least, everyone’s a winner.

As it was my first working trip to the city I saw a number of new sides to Sydney – So I thought I’d wrap up this entry with my ‘likes’ and ‘dislikes’ of the week.

Likes:

Surry Hills - Sydney’s answer to Shoreditch

Australian property market fourth fastest growing in the world – good news

Sydney Theatre Company’s Political Review – very funny

Bloody good coffee – the rumors are true

Bathers Pavilion - fantastic food, friendly staff

Australia’s Asylum Law changes regarding children in detention – excellent news

Aussie-Pomme relations – a very warm welcome

Dislikes:

AUD reaches parity with USD – widely celebrated but not by my wallet

Taxi drivers without a sat-nav  - useless

City center wireless Internet access – for love nor money

Until next time …

Green Building Council of Australia

Haron Robson

Australia Property Institute NSW

Bathers Pavilion

Sydney Theatre

Going Down (Under)

I am flying out to Sydney (16-23rd October) to attend Haron Robsons 25th Birthday Celebration at the MCA on Wednesday 20th - a gorgeous location and I’m very much looking forward to the event.

www.haronrobson.com.au

While in Sydney I am hoping to meet with professionals within the construction industry, namely Architects, Building owners, Agents and anyone in an Facilities Management or building consultancy role who may need our services as experts/consultants in the Vertical Transport / Building Maintenance Units.

here’s my personal Linkedin profile:
Laura Boardman Linkedin
e-mail:
lauraboardman@dunbarboardman.com
mobile:
+447971 149513

October in the Buff

The Buff Dining Club celebrated it’s 20th year last Thursday at the RAC in central London. Just to clear up any confusion, the ’Buff Club’ is not as the name implies, a naked networking event. As dedicated as I am to my business development role I was quite relieved about that! (The origin of the club was attributed to the British regiment of the same name and is incidentally a breed of chicken)

Matt Battle chaired the event and Paul Morrell gave a speech about the future of the construction industry. Paul spoke engagingly on the subject encouraging us all to become greener, leaner and brighter in the way we work.

The guest list was impressive and I enjoyed conversations with a diverse range of people, although I use the word diverse I should perhaps be more specific, I am referring to job titles and not the demographic. Although for what began as a gentleman’s dining club, set in a gentleman’s members club it was a pleasure to see other female faces in the room and I enjoyed a lively and interesting discussion about women in Architecture with the guests either side of me. This was a conversation I don’t think would have got off the ground at Bangers wine bar where I was earlier that day; courtesy of The Doyle Club, although if you contest this statement please feel free to respond.

Overall Paul’s projection for our future was that it will be challenging and although he softened the blow of the tougher points with well-woven wit I sat with a mouthful of chocolate pudding as waiter re-filled my glass of wine and reflected on his ‘leaner and greener’ statement. Feeling neither, I wondering how willingly the rest of the room would change their business behaviour and tried to recall whether the car I’d seen displayed downstairs in the foyer was a hybrid?

The Buff Dining Club

The Royal Automobile Club (RAC)

The Skyroom Design Week 2010 - Talking, but not to everyone.

Design Week 2010

I joined a small crowd of architects and designers last night, gathered in David Kohn’s Skyroom on Tooley Street to hear Indy Johar talk about ‘Manifesting Change 21C’. Indy was relaxed, engaging and characteristically passionate about the topics of sustainable futures and strategic design. It was fascinating to hear him discuss his view of cultural shifts; economically, technologically, environmentally and as a result corporately and how they in turn have an effect on the way Architects are working. He paints a picture of a future where briefs are more open, clients more enlightened and architects consult anthropologists and use digital context analysis models (I had to google that).

Huddled amongst creative minds in the Skyroom which floats between the semi erect Shard and the blocks of More London it was easy to be sold on Indy’s vision and the buzz in the Skyroom began to take on an almost celestial quality until that is, David Kohn himself asked a question.  Your relationship with clients is adapting and moving forward but ‘what is your relationship with the construction industry?’ Indy was flummoxed, it hadn’t crossed his mind to talk to anyone ‘downstream’. At one stage in the evening someone referred to clients as ‘creatively dead from the neck up’ are those of us in the construction industry tarred with a similar brush? Or are we, as Indy’s lack of consideration suggests much worse from a creative perspective?

Is the purpose of the industry solely executional or are we capable of joining the conversation? If so, how can we prove that we are more progressive than architects perceive us to be?  It was great to watch successful architectural minds engage in a lively debate but if the way we live and work is changing and as a result so too are our living and working spaces, when do you talk to the people in hard hats?

Venue: Rooftop of The Architecture Foundation

Client: Roger Zogolovitch, Lake Estates

Architect: David Kohn Architects

Talk: Manifesting Change 21C: Indy Johar, 00:/

Indy Johar 00:/

http://www.architecture00.net/people.php

David Kohn Skyroom

http://www.davidkohn.co.uk/projects/current/skyroom/

Digital Context Analysis Models:

http://www.architectmagazine.com/planning/san-francisco-digital-context-analysis-model.aspx

The Architecture Foundation

http://www.architecturefoundation.org.uk/