Located in elegant Belgravia, within London's Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea, Holbein Gardens is a 25,000-square-foot office redevelopment and extension of an existing building from the 1980s. Holbein Gardens has been repurposed to provide a high-quality and flexible working environment, while being one of the city's most sustainable office buildings. As well as the building's refurbishment, there is the addition of a fifth floor and together with a striking rooftop terrace, affording views across London’s iconic skyline.

Collaborating with Grosvenor, HDR has contributed to delivering a net zero office building, achieving zero waste and a significant biodiversity gain. Net zero has been achieved in line with UK Green Building Council's Net Zero Carbon Building Framework. Receiving the prestigious Wastebuild Zero 2023 Award, in the Commercial Building Category, as well as Green Building Project of the Year 2023 at the UK Green Business Awards, Holbein Gardens has been recognized as a leading example of how to refurbish existing office stock, while delivering net zero ambitions. Later in 2023, Holbein Gardens was awarded for advancing industry knowledge of steel reuse in buildings by The Institution of Structural Engineers.

HDR was involved in overseeing the strip out and delivered building engineering services; including mechanical, electrical and public health engineering. HDR was also responsible for the vertical transportation and energy strategies. Holbein Gardens has been designed by HDR to be Smart Ready, thus future-proofing the development to easily adapt to emerging technologies.

Clean and Renewable

Holbein Gardens has embodied emissions 30% below industry targets, with many of its design elements working harmoniously to reduce operational emissions. Our energy team ensured the building achieved BREEAM Outstanding, WELL Gold and Wired Score Gold certifications. The scheme is also a NABERS pioneer project, with 99.95% of strip out waste having been diverted from landfill and 98% of the full scheme. 

The all-electric building maximizes heat pump technology, lending itself to decarbonization, while also being beneficial for local air quality and minimizing the impact of pollution. Solar-powered contactless smartphone chargers have been installed into benches on the rooftop terrace alongside a blue roof system, enabling the capture and reuse of rainwater. Overall, the tenant will save 50% on energy, compared to typical London offices.

Sustainable Materials

Reuse is at the heart of this project, with a range of innovative materials and technologies. Cross laminated timber has been used to create new floors, designed for re-use and disassembly, with low embodied carbon, alongside reclaimed steel work and floor tiles.

Biodiversity and Ecological Resiliency

Holbein Gardens has incorporated the use of Biophilia and greening to ensure the biodiversity and resiliency of the site, while also positively contributing to the environment of the surrounding area. Stunning Green Walls adds to the richness of biodiversity as well as creating a stunning feature for staff and passersby

Giving Façades a Purpose

Holbein Gardens has retained existing materials, featuring reclaimed brickwork. The retention and repurposing of its façade will save 39% of embodied carbon compared to that of all new products. 

A new roof terrace provides tenants with panoramic views of the surrounding Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea to the west and Westminster to the east. To optimize usable space on the roof terrace, our engineers maximized the use of basement plant and designed roof-mounted plant including Photovoltaic panels.

Mixed Mode Ventilation

Our team has interfaced new windows with a roof-mounted weather station via the Building Management System to facilitate natural ventilation. Local displays will indicate optimal environmental conditions for office workers to open the windows, as well as reduce electricity consumption through lower reliance on mechanical systems.

New London Architecture has showcased Holbein Gardens in "Circular London - Building a Renewable City," a report published in response to London's ambition to be net zero by 2030.

Building Magazine celebrated the successes of the project in an online article, "Holbein Gardens: A positive step on the net zero office refurbishment journey."

Having been selected as building service engineers for the project, HDR was profiled by Smart Building Magazine in an article published in late 2021, "HDR is providing engineering expertise on one of London’s most sustainable buildings."

In May 2024, Holbein Gardens was shortlisted at the British Council for Offices London Regional Awards in the buildings under 2,500m2 category. This award defines excellence in office space and provides public recognition for top quality design, functionality and a benchmark for outstanding workplaces; acknowledging innovation and focusing external attention to examples of best practice.