Welcome to 38 Berkeley Square in Mayfair, London. Home to luxury fashion house, Chanel this is a landmark in sustainable construction.

The 85,000-square-foot /25,300 m² building is an impressive demolition and rebuild. When it opens, it will be the first new office building built in Berkeley Square in the last twenty years. The developer fully considered refurbishing the 'poorly configured' existing building but ultimately found that it proved 'impossible to upgrade to meet current best practice standards'. As such, Berger House, located at 36-38 Berkeley Square was demolished by Tilley and Barrett to make way for the new development.

Hybrid solutions and design

One of the major structural challenges of the project included constructing an additional floor below the existing basement which was made possible by developing integrated, sustainable, and bespoke floor build-ups involving long-span steel beams by our partners, the structural specialists B&K Hybrid Solutions. The hybrid solution of steel and exposed cross-laminated timber (CLT) created best-in-class floor-to-ceiling heights with a calming, aesthetically pleasing, and spacious feel for the luxury property.

Specifications

By specifying a PEFC-certified Sylva™ kit of parts by Stora Enso, the property's overall carbon footprint is expected to be relatively low as the elements have low carbon footprints, as confirmed by  third-party verified environmental product declarations (EPDs).

Stora Enso has an international reputation for a very high standard of visual surfaces. Although the CLT specified is industrial non-visual grade the quality is so good that it was left exposed in many parts of the building with a beautiful finish.

Protect

Sylva CLT Walls and Floors were protected before leaving the mill with a biocide-free end grain sealer and breathable, temporary membrane by Stora Enso's Sylva™ Protect Service. The in-house application prevented water or dirt from getting trapped in the wood during the transport and construction phase and eliminated the need for any time-consuming on-site application. When the kit of parts arrived on-site, the elements were ready to be installed immediately.

Learn more about Sylva Protect Services.

Fire safety and compliance

The project was the first exposed timber 'tall' development in London to achieve compliance with SWECO Building Control under the new, more stringent post-Grenfell fire regulations (Architects' Journal).

The project team included specialists from Elliott Wood Partnership and engineers from ETH Zurich, known as Ignis. They worked together to develop a comprehensive fire safety strategy tailored to the unique requirements of the building. Some of the Sylva CLT elements were treated with fire-resistant coatings and linings on-site to enhance the structural performance of the building in the event of a fire (RIBA Journal).

Extensive early fire modelling was carried out to ensure the project meets the latest regulations, and B&K Hybrid Solutions supported the Fire Surgery and Ignis through a PCSA to develop a route to compliance based on demonstrating that the building will survive the full duration of a fire, to a high enough likelihood. BKHS designed connections to support this approach and were involved in discussions with bodies such as London Fire Brigade, alongside the design team.

By achieving compliance with stringent regulations and incorporating innovative design solutions, the project has brought a new layer of confidence to use exposed mass timber in high-rise buildings in the UK.

Community

38 Berkeley Square is more than just a construction project; it represents a growing commitment to sustainable development. The development is one of the first in a line of engineered timber workspaces in the area including: 11 Belgrave Road | Metropolis | Paradise | Roundhouse Works | Arding & Hobbs | WorkStack and Timber Square.

Fashion House, Chanel has preleased the entire building with a signed 20-year agreement on the building for its head office, making it a highly desirable addition to Mayfair.

Sustainability

One of the major benefits of Sylva is that it is designed for future flexibility. The new tenants, Chanel can make purpose-made adaptations that will be relatively straightforward to alter in the future as needs or tenants change avoiding unnecessary construction demolition.

The exact carbon footprint of 38 Berkeley Square hasn't been made available yet, but we do already know the carbon footprint of the Sylva CLT elements used:

Manufacturing 85 tonnes CO₂e

Transporting 51 tonnes CO₂e

1,230 tonnes of carbon dioxide removed from the air and stored in Berkeley Square

1,846 tonnes of greenhouse gas emissions avoided by using wood instead of non-renewable construction materials

The project aims to meet high sustainability standards, targeting certifications such as BREEAM or LEED, which require stringent measures to reduce carbon emissions.

Construction of the scheme started in 2021 and is set to be completed later in 2024.

Learn more about the advantages of construction with mass timber