Stunning faceted building is Europe’s largest new residential heat network

The Greenwich Peninsula Low Energy Center is as impressive visually as it is in terms of functionality, saving over 20,000 tons of carbon per year. It was designed by C.F. Møller Architects—one of Scandinavia’s oldest and largest architectural practices—and British artist Conrad Shawcross.

The building stands in one of London’s major urban development zones: The Greenwich Peninsula includes 15,700 new homes and over 300,000 m² of office space. The Low Energy Center houses boilers, and a combined heat and power plant, which distribute heat energy via a District Heating Network (DHN) from the energy centre to each plot across the development.

Hundreds of triangular, perforated steel panels—called the Optic Cloak—make up the building’s façade. Each one is roughly the size of a London bus, and together, they create a Moiré Effect—a large-scale interference pattern that’s made when an opaque ruled pattern with transparent gaps is overlaid on another similar pattern. The Greenwich Peninsula Low Energy Center’s 49-meter-tall flute can be seen scintillating into the night via an integrated lighting design that produces a shifting series of patterns from within the structure.

The machine room and office area include a visitor centre that will offer an interactive educational experience for scheduled groups with the intended purpose of demystifying how energy works.

The Greenwich Peninsula Low Energy Center won this year’s prestigious GAGA Architecture Award for the most innovative and effective use of galvanized steelwork. It’s also been shortlisted for AJ Architecture Awards 2017’s “Sustainable Project of the Year”.

For more information about cloaks, optics, and surface disruption, watch this TEDxUAL talk with Optic Cloak designer Conrad Shawcross.