This scheme to convert a derelict water tower into an office development will preserve a Cambridgeshire landmark while complying with current planning guidelines on sustainability and the re-use of existing buildings.The tower is retained intact and surmounted by a dramatic new glazed structure which houses three floors of office accommodation, supported by a series of steel piers contained within the existing tower structure. A four-storey ancillary structure flares out from the base to offer additional office space.
The walls of this block are clad in anodised aluminium and glazed panels where they extend out from the tower, but the flat south-western elevation is finished in reinforced concrete panels and animated by coloured glass slot windows.An extensive photovoltaic array is incorporated in the southern face of the upper glazed element, applied both as solid panels and as a laminated translucent film. The structure is also capable of supporting a roof-top wind turbine, while additional energy savings are represented by a geothermal heat pump system.
