Chesterfield House is a strategic site providing 239 apartments over two towers of 26 and 21 storeys, retail space, a public square and a community centre in the heart of Wembley Central.

We provided M&E Engineering and Acoustic consultancy to refine the energy strategy and take the scheme to tender for the redevelopment of the site.

We were asked to step into this project, after planning had been secured, to resolve residual issues over the energy strategy and summertime overheating. The site experiences very high and constant noise levels from the adjacent high street and police station opposite. Having secured planning, the client was reluctant to make changes that would affect the appearance and risk undoing the planning consent.

Our analysis demonstrated that the lowest ten floors needed to be sealed, as it would not be feasible to open windows to provide regular environmental ventilation. We proposed a two-stage solution. Most of the apartments have continuous mechanical extract ventilation, trickle vets and openable windows as a robust, reliable and low-cost solution. The apartments most affected by external noise and poor air quality have mechanical ventilation with heat recovery. This provides additional filtration and noise attenuation and an increased flow rate for purge ventilation. Coupled with a heat pump, this provides a cooling of the supply air which manages solar gains from the sealed façade. The solution was contained within the utility cupboard of the apartment. As a result, no additional heat rejection plant or services distribution was required, which minimised the maintenance burden to the landlord.

During the final stages of the design, the building was optimised to meet the needs of the selected operator for the Private Rented Sector and Housing Association. The project was completed in 2020 and was shortlisted for 'Apartment Development of the Year' at the British Homes Awards.