We are pleased to announce that one of our projects, retail development One New Change in the City of London, has been shortlisted for a prestigious CIBSE award.

The CIBSE (Chartered Institute of Building Services Engineers) Building Performance Awards recognise, reward and celebrate the best performance, innovation and practice in design, commissioning, construction, installation and operation of sustainable buildings and the manufacturers whose technologies enable energy efficiency.

One New Change has been shortlisted in the New Build Project Of The Year and Commissioning Project Of The Year categories. 

One New Change is a contemporary building with a total of eight floors comprising offices on the top four floors, a public terrace at roof level on the sixth floor, and shops on the Lower Ground, Ground and First Floor. With around 60 stores spanning the three floors, One New Change is one of the largest shopping centres in central London, rivalling other London shopping hot-spots. A panoramic lift in the middle gives direct access to new and exciting views over St. Paul’s Cathedral dome. 

This iconic building was designed by Pritzker Prize-winning architect, Jean Nouvel. The modernist building has 6,500 floor-to-ceiling glass panes, flooding the floors with natural light. 4,300 of which are unique pieces.

SCS Group was appointed by FFE Fire & Security Ltd to install a system that would protect the building and its occupants in the event of a fire.  Our system used 57 automatic smoke curtains across the different levels. We installed the smoke curtains around the edges of the main atria and the escalators to prevent smoke entering the floors above in fire conditions.

The biggest challenge we faced was working with the irregular shape of the atrium openings and installing the curtains behind a complicated ceiling arrangement. We also pulled the stops out to get the system in place in time for a tight completion date as the retail destination had to be open by Christmas 2010. As ever we went the extra mile to ensure the system was complete on time and within budget.

We are proud to have played a part in protecting one of the most interesting new retail buildings in the UK.

Congratulations to all involved with One New Change.