Sustainability centre for London’s Docklands

Work is now underway on the £30M Siemens Pavilion in east London, a structure which will kick-start a planned Green Enterprise District centred around the Royal Victoria Docks.

The steel framed building will comprise an exhibition and conference centre, and is set to be operational by early 2012.

Siemens plans to create an iconic building that will provide a permanent showcase for sustainable technologies and a destination for the public, customers and students to explore the innovations needed to achieve a low carbon society.

The architectural concept for the building shell, designed by Wilkinson Eyre, is based on two interlocking parallelogram forms with multiple triangular facets. Its crystalline geometry is said to draw inspiration from nature and responds to its special location contrasting with the curve of the O₂ Centre (Millennium Dome) beyond.

A palette of reflective and transparent materials on the facets, catch the light in different ways to create a dynamic composition on the waterfront.  One of the crystals is a single volume containing the exhibition and the other contains offices and conference facilities on several levels.

The main contractor is ISG and it has appointed Rowecord Engineering as the project’s steelwork contractor.