Low Carbon Energy Centre, London

In March 2017, C.F. Møller Architects, artist Conrad Shawcross and developer Knight Dragon completed a major new art and architecture collaboration for London’s Greenwich Peninsula.

Measuring 3,000 sq. m, the Greenwich Peninsula Low Carbon Energy Centre is situated in a prominent location at the peninsula entrance, adjacent to the Blackwall Tunnel Approach, as a visible landmark for the area.

The Energy Centre houses advanced boilers and combined heat and power (CHP) that provides heat to the businesses and homes due to be built on the Peninsula in the coming years. The development was conceived in response to the political drive to increase the use of CHP and formed part of the Peninsula’s Sustainability Strategy.

The Energy Centre is the largest new build residential heat network in Europe, saving over 20,000 tonnes of carbon a year. Heat energy will be distributed via a District Heating Network (DHN) from the Energy Centre to each plot across the development.

Designed by British artist Conrad Shawcross, the cladding of the 49 m-high stack tower unites sophisticated engineering and complex optic research to create an impressive sculptural concept on a huge scale.

The structure’s cladding is formed from hundreds of triangular panels that fold and flow across the surface of the tower forming complex geometric patterns that visually break up the flat planes to create an uneven, sculpted surface that plays with the vanishing points and perspective.

The panels are perforated so as to exploit the phenomena of the Moiré Effect, and at night an integrated lighting design produces a shifting series of ‘compositions‘ lit from within the structure.

The work of art by Conrad Shawcross is named ‘The Optic Cloak*

The Energy Centre’s machine room and flexible ancillary office accommodation is supplemented with a Visitor Centre offering an interactive educational experience for prearranged groups.

Content and images courtesy of C.F. Møller Architects.

Photography © Mark Hadden.

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