London Bridge Station scores highest for sustainability

London Bridge Station has achieved the highest ever CEEQUAL rating for sustainability in civil engineering following a major redevelopment of the site.


The Network Rail project, which will see major changes to accommodate 18 trains per hour through the station on the new Thameslink network, achieved a CEEQUAL Excellent Interim Client and Design Award with a score of 96.9%.

The achievement of this award was one of the core requirements of Network Rail’s Thameslink Programme sustainable design and construction strategy (SDCS) – but the project surpassed all expectations with its 96.9% rating, 22% higher than the required score.

The station’s sustainability delivery strategy was developed by WSP and included solutions for reducing carbon emissions and waste, conserving water supplies and utilising sustainable materials.

In addition, the embodied energy and carbon impact of materials and components proposed for the station were investigated in detail to identify key contributors to the overall carbon footprint of the project.

A series of measures were taken to reduce emissions by optimising access to natural daylight in the concourse and on the platforms, while preventing risk for solar overheating.

Natural ventilation and free cooling to the concourse was built in to the spec, and a new lighting strategy was drawn up including efficient luminaires and integration with natural daylight potential and best practice controls.

Ground-source heating and cooling in the form of a series of energy piles within the concourse area was also established, feeding into the condensing loop of the retail area.

Moves were made to design out waste where possible, with all demolished bricks and concrete crushed on site and sent for reuse where possible.

Consideration was given to maximising use of recycled and secondary aggregates in the structural concrete, and recycled materials such as ground-granulated furnace slag and fly ash replaced ordinary cement in the structural concrete – this was identified as the single biggest opportunity to reduce embodied energy and carbon.

In terms of conserving water, in addition to water-saving fixtures and fittings, rainwater harvesting was considered during design and was compared against the extent of infrastructure required to enable the collection of rainwater for WC flushing.

Other measures included installating water meters for washroom areas, for each retail area and other key uses, and sanitary supply shut-off through the use of motion or infra-red sensors.

Maxine Perella

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