Charlotte Fernández
UKIMEA Press Office,Leeds
Arup worked in partnership with Tate on the development of the new Tate Modern extension - the construction of a new eleven storey, multi-purpose building named the Switch House.
Arup provided multi-disciplinary engineering services at concept and feasibility stage, and fire engineering and lighting design services from inception to completion of this major new landmark for London.
Originally designed for 2 million visitors a year, Tate Modern today receives over 5 million visitors each year. This project has added 60 per cent more space and includes, a new café and restaurant, a free viewing platform, a new members’ room, public engagement and education spaces, offices and two new public squares.
Having successfully delivered the lighting and fire safety engineering design for the original Tate Modern building, Arup was again appointed for these services for the new building throughout the design and construction phases.
“Lighting plays a key role in connecting these new spaces. It was important to ensure that consistency was maintained across both buildings while integrating the lighting with the architecture of the new spaces. Sustainability was a key driver with the client, so we used high-quality, low energy LED and fluorescent lighting throughout. This includes the use of LED spotlights for the exhibition spaces that use less than half the energy of traditional halogen equivalents, but with no compromise on lighting quality.
- Jeff Shaw, Lighting Designer and Associate Director, Arup
“The fire strategy has been fundamental in enabling the Architect’s vision for a high rise, public building with an open circulation staircase connecting all floors from basement to roof terrace. Our design ensures the safety of occupants, whilst also protecting the high value contents and the ongoing operation of the building. There was significant involvement during the construction phase considering the complex geometries and interfaces created by the innovative architectural design.
- David Stow, Fire Engineer and Associate Director, Arup
“During the concept engineering phase, one of the biggest challenges we faced was rearranging the electrical infrastructure and moving the transformers from the site onto a footprint half the size of the original substation. Arup also proposed and designed a waste heat recovery scheme which supplies energy from the transformers to the new gallery.
- Stuart Smith, Building Engineer and Director, Arup
Concept engineering started at the master planning stage in 2005, and fire and external lighting contracts were appointed in 2008. In 2009, Arup was also commissioned to undertake internal lighting design.