3 Sheldon Square

• Client: British Land
• Sector: Commercial
• Services: Firestopping
• Region: Paddington, London
• Size: 192, 600 sq. ft
• Project Value: £20 million

Project Overview

3 Sheldon Square sits at the heart of Paddington Central, a vibrant 11-acre mixed-use campus to the west of central London. The area has been revitalised in recent decades and is now home to a variety of businesses – including several major international firms.  

This is a superbly located commercial and residential development, close to the heart of the capital but just 15 minutes from Heathrow Airport via the Heathrow Express from Paddington station.  As well as the campus itself, British Land owns four of the five modern office buildings in Paddington Central. One of these, 3 Sheldon Square, underwent a £20million refurbishment that was due for completion in Q1 of 2024.  

One important element of that facelift was the addition of a new balcony structure on the outside of several floors of the building, with the balconies to be attached to the existing steel work.  

British Land, through its main contractor 8build, commissioned Sentinel to provide passive fire protection, both for the new balconies and for the existing structure.  

This was a key element of the upgrading of a 192,600 square-foot space. One of the client’s most important requests was that the solution installed should support its ongoing focus on sustainability within the building and across the campus.   

Project Brief

The addition of new balconies was crucial to the success in upgrading the external look of 3 Sheldon Square. The balcony strategy included adding extensive green areas and improving the thermal comfort of the building’s users.  

Our challenge, as London’s favourite fire protection sub-contractor, was to work closely with the main contractor in the provision of firestopping solutions. As well as passive fire protection for the new steel work on the balconies, we were tasked with replacing the damaged fire protection measures already in place on the primary structure where it met the balconies. However, our client emphasised its wish to retain as much of the existing fire protection as possible.  

Our work was part of a wide-ranging project to develop a sustainable, high-quality workspace with top-notch communal facilities. The balconies were to play a vital role in the enhanced greening of the building in line with British Land’s sustainability and wellness objectives.  

The overall aim of the refurbishment was to improve the quality of life for people who live and work at 3 Sheldon Square by providing upgraded facilities and more outdoor amenity space – such as the balconies. 

Challenges / Solution

There was a particularly challenging element to our provision of passive fire protection solutions for the new balcony strategy. 

Our client stipulated that the fire protection boarding systems in the new balconies should match the materials already in place on the existing structure.  

The slight hitch was that these systems are no longer in production. Undaunted, Sentinel’s team undertook a search for the right boards that eventually covered the whole of Europe. Following an extensive scouring of the continent, we sourced the last batch of this specific board and were able to use it for our work at 3 Sheldon Square.  

This successful result meant we could satisfy our client’s needs and live up to our proud reputation as delivering built-in fire protection solutions from the industry’s leading practitioners.  

Retention and re-use of the existing materials was one of the main aims of British Land and 8build, and our ability to track down and use precisely the right fire protection boarding systems contributed significantly towards of our clients’ ability to hit that target.  

The Result

Our success in tracking down the exact passive fire protection material requested by our client delivered a couple of significant benefits. 

One was the fact that our client saved thousands of pounds thanks to the batch of the boarding system we sourced matching the existing firestopping provision. This enabled the client to retain as much of the undamaged boarding already in place as possible, cutting down on the cost of new materials.  

The other benefit of our work was that the new installation contributed to British Land’s stated aim to move towards a net zero carbon future.  

Across Paddington Central, there has been a 19% reduction in energy use since 2019, which means 2,000 tonnes of carbon have been saved.  

All the electricity and gas purchased for tenants at Paddington Central now comes from certified renewable sources, while absolutely none of the waste managed for consumers at the campus since 2014 has gone to campus.  

Sentinel’s contribution was significant in ensuring that the new development was completed with a low embodied carbon intensity of 124kg of CO2/m2. 

The building is now all electric, which is expected to help reduce the operational energy demand by more than 40 per cent.