Saving more carbon in design and construction than the building will produce during its 20 year lease, 1 Triton Square will be one of the most sustainable Headquarters in the country.

1 Triton Square was designed by Arup for British Land in the 1990s. 20 years later, British Land asked us to update the building for the latest workstyles and performance standards. The result? Three extra floors, twice as much net office area and a BREEAM Outstanding sustainability rating, all while retaining façades and superstructure and without increasing plant space.
The new design offers a modern, flexible workspaces around the atrium providing linkage between floors and creating a vibrant social hub. The redevelopment will also deliver four large roof terraces and incorporate sustainable and smart technologies to support mobility and collaboration. Once complete, 1 Triton Square will provide an environmentally responsible, socially active workplace for 4,000 people. It secured the West End’s biggest pre-let in over 20 years.
Consideration was given at the outset to maximising retention of both the existing structure and building fabric. The refurbishment saving approximately 40,000 tCO2e over the course of a 20-year lease term, a 55% reduction compared to a typical new build office benchmark. This saving is enough carbon to heat and power approximately 9,900 average UK houses for a year.
Marginal gains make up our ever-increasing carbon reduction. Things like low energy lighting, heat recovery systems, upcycling redundant plant and carbon fibre column strengthening. Pioneering one of the UK’s first large-scale circular façades, over 3,500m2 panels were removed and transported to pop-up factory less than 30 miles away from site. A temporary production line inspected, cleaned and refurbished each for reinstallation.
In the context of a global climate emergency, our collaborative approach to the adapted reuse of 1 Triton Square demonstrates that a typical London office building can be exciting, attractive to new customers and unbelievably sustainable. This case study to inform future refurbishment projects, demonstrating the environmental benefits of retaining and reusing existing building components and upgrading them to meet the highest environmental standards.

We are very proud of the renewal of 1 Triton Square, achieved through the joint commitment and collaboration of the client, British Land, the construction team at Lend Lease, and our own multidisciplinary design team at Arup. Working together we have created a landmark project that transformed the tired 1990’s building into a new benchmark for reduction in embodied and operational carbon for retrofit projects. The re-imagined building creates a 21st century workplace providing high quality flexible workspace, focused around the reconfigured central atrium, and supplemented by generous terraces on all sides.