Creative engineering designs at London’s Art Deco 80 Strand breathes a new lease of life into an iconic building.

The stunning Art Deco style building originally opened in 1932, is located on the banks of the River Thames and is Grade II Listed. Standing at a statuesque 190-foot tall, covering 537,000 square feet, its neighbours are the world-famous Savoy and Adelphi. 80 Strand has 12 floors including basement and sub-basement levels. HDR’s engineering designs on this project comprised a full Cat A refurbishment of Strand and Embankment levels. Holistic building engineering services were implemented to include levels five through to 10 of the leased space, including both Cat A and Cat B on level seven. The mechanical and electrical services have principally been designed to be fully exposed, creating a striking industrial style workspace and set out to complement the existing original structural grid. These are intended to be a consistent symmetrical installation which will permit flexibility for changes to the cellular spaces thus future proofing whilst creating an agile workspace.

This elegant building, with its famous clock is home to Pearsons, the global learning company. HDR completed the Building Engineering Services Design together with ICT and Security. Provision of Critical Services for tech spaces have also been designed to meet the needs of Pearson.

80 Strand is one of London’s most famous historic buildings. HDR is delighted to have made a contribution to breathe new life into the building, introducing 21^st Century technologies and meeting the high standards our client’s expectations. Our engineering design expertise has ensured that key features of the listed building have been maintained while creating an innovative, stylish and contemporary new workspace for Pearson’s people.

Refurbishing a listed building of this kind presented many challenges that required bespoke solutions. During the project, it was crucial to prevent damage to the original elements of the building such as the façade, staircases, entrances, and original cornices along the top edge of the internal walls. The mechanical and electrical services were carefully designed to create a flexible dynamic workplace.

The ICT and security designs included the provision of new MER and SER technology rooms to support the new working environment’s high-speed voice and data networks. This included a new fibre optic backbone to further allow for future expansion. The general office areas have a high-speed Wi-Fi infrastructure to support new agile working, in line with Pearson’s new business standards.

The new CCTV and door systems, meanwhile, have been designed to be discreet yet are also included onto Pearson’s network, to take advantage of the new passive and active infrastructure, enabling flexibility with respect to cameras and door access position.

HDR’s building engineering services in collaboration with architects TP Bennett at 80 Strand have been harmoniously coordinated within the existing 1930s building, enhancing the architectural vision for this classic space.