The Farringdon area of central London is set to have its first smart building using IoT technology from local company Smart Spaces.
 
Construction of the building at 33 Charterhouse Street started this year and is expected to be finished by summer 2022. It is a 50:50 joint venture between Helical and Ashby Capital.
 
Smart Spaces has created a smart building operating system. It will deliver the digital twin and customer engagement app at the development site.
 
The Smart Spaces platform to create an innovative experience for occupiers has the ability to provide efficiencies in on-going operations to increase the building’s environmental and sustainability credentials. The smart technology will also serve to ensure safety standards for customers in response to Covid-19.
 
“We are working in a time when buildings need tangible cutting edge technology to satisfy customer expectations,” said Dan Drogman, CEO at Smart Spaces. “33 Charterhouse Street will set a new benchmark within this dynamic area of London. Creating an environment that will inspire and engage creative and tech industry workers who are native to the new way of working, while focusing on safety and employee wellbeing will be paramount to remaining competitive. Our technology has the ability to support the delivery of an operationally advanced and environmentally conscious office. We are looking forward to working with Ashby Capital and Helical to bring this to life.”
 
Smart Spaces has designed an employee engagement app for the building, which will serve to foster a community and enhance workplace wellbeing, of which the features will include:

• Touch-free access, lift, climate and lighting controls
• Desk and meeting room booking
• Real-time occupancy with journey mapping and anonymous social distance monitoring
• Predictive fault management
• Real-time energy footprint per employee
• Concierge events and offers

As master systems integrator, Smart Spaces will coordinate the base build systems providers, consulting throughout each stage of development to ensure compatibility with their smart-building operating system. This ensures future-proofing for the building, as it can take advantage of the latest technology without the need to upgrade its key systems.

The digital twin will provide property manager Ashdown Philips targeted proactive engineering, automated fault recognition and reporting through a fully integrated, asset tagged, BIM model.

The prominent building has been designed by Lifschutz Davidson Sandilands and will provide around 18,500m² of office accommodation over ground plus ten floors, with floor plates ranging from 1200 to 2200m². The office accommodation will also benefit from three terraces with views across central London. Multiple retail units will be provided at ground floor level.

The Smart Spaces customised building operating system uses the data present within the building to provide complete 360˚ control, automation and real-time operational feedback. The secure, white-label mobile IoT application helps manage everything in the building, from granting access, system controls and energy efficiency reports to room booking and maintenance queries.

Learning from routines, Smart Spaces can set the lighting and heating systems within the building to preferred settings, and works to make the space more sustainable.

A social wall brings the workforce together, with access to a scrollable social feed, in-app messaging and calls, as well as local events and offers from nearby stores. The system integrates with voice AI assistant Amazon Alexa.