News Building

Designed by Italian architect Renzo Piano, the News Building office block, in London Bridge is home to an array of operations, including, The Wall Street Journal, Dow Jones, The Times, The Sunday Times, The Sun and HarperCollins. The 17-storey building is part of the £2 billion London Bridge Quarter Development.

As the high-profile face of London’s newest commercial quarter, the building required a comprehensive heating and ventilation system to ensure a comfortable and productive environment. MAP designed a bespoke system, providing VDP Swirl Diffusers to maintain a consistent air temperature throughout the reception area.

The real challenge was the high installation height in the building, in excess of 8 metres. The VDP Swirl Diffusers specified met the challenge – specially constructed, the cylindrical swirl element created a rotary swirling motion. Installed between 1-2 metres apart, each unit quickly decreases the velocity and temperature difference between the internal air and supply air, removing cold spots and minimising draughts. In heating mode, the integrated electric actuator varies the geometry of the device, ensuring warm, conditioned air gets to the occupied zone.

Due to its central location and close proximity to London Bridge Station, the building’s reception area was highlighted as being subject to strong winds. In response, we carefully designed an integrated series of special Swirl Diffusers. Aesthetically pleasing, the swirls minimise the rate of air infiltration, ensuring thermal and acoustic comfort throughout the whole of the reception area.