Norfolk House

• Client: Skanska & JJ Sweeney
• Sector: Commercial
• Services: Firestopping & Commercial Decorating
• Region: London St James Park, London
• Size: 399,605 sq. ft.
• Project Value: £72 million

Project Overview

Norfolk House is a splendid neo-Georgian building in the heart of London’s West End that has a long and fascinating history. It stands in St James’s Square, between Piccadilly and Pall Mall, and in the middle of the St James’s Conservation Area. That location added to the challenge of delivering a renovated structure that features thoroughly modern facilities while respecting the existing character of this historic building.

Skanska was the main contractor for the £72million development of this prime site, which retained and restored the two original facades while constructing a new eight-storey commercial office building with a new, deeper basement.

Sentinel was invited, given our reputation for delivering built-in fire protection solutions, to ensure the new building was fireproofed from top to bottom.

We were also engaged by JJ Sweeney to demonstrate our extensive expertise in specialist decorating by working to create a high-class finish to the toilet blocks that are now in place at the site.

Project Brief

This was a project that enabled Sentinel to display the skills and standards that make us the UK’s preferred specialist decorating contractor, and the go-to firm for passive fire protection installations.

The design created by Make Architects envisaged a building that would be finished to a category A standard across all the office floors. The finished structure would have eight storeys compared to the original seven, and
two restored neo-Georgian facades with Grade A working spaces behind them. It would also feature two reception entrances on St James’s Square and Charles II Street.

Sentinel’s team of specialist decorators was contracted to paint all the finishings throughout the washroom pods.

Meanwhile, our firestopping experts were engaged to deliver passive fire protection measures throughout the new Norfolk House.

Challenges / Solution

For the walls and ceilings, our operatives used Dulux Diamond Matt RAL colour 9010, while the doors were decorated using Dulux Diamond Satinwood RAL colour 9010.

It was emphasised to us that this painting work had to be completed to an extremely high standard. Walls were inspected to make sure they were perfect in our eyes, and those of our client, before the final coats of paint were applied.

When it came to the passive fire protection, a key part of the project was the installation of Firemac FM Blue fire-resistant walls. This was done to address certain design issues relating to the construction of the firestopping systems in the building’s corridors.

By using FM Blue, we were able to create fireproofed seals that were fully compliant with fire resistance standards. We also upgraded the insulation of the penetrated surfaces using Nullifire FI025 Intuflex insulation wrap. This increased the fire performance of the area concerned.

This material is primarily made of rock mineral fibre, with an outer layer of foil to provide a class O spread of flame around a class A1 core.

As well as using FM Blue, our team also used Firetherm Intubatt and Mastic to bolster our passive fire protection provision. Intubatt is a factory-finished multi-layer low resin bonded mineral fire board. It is manufactured under ISO 9001 factory conditions. We used this to reinstall the service openings passing through the fire compartment walls and doors.

The Result

The redevelopment of Norfolk House showcased the varying ways in which Sentinel operates as a trusted partner to main developers, property owners and architects.

Our extensive expertise as a specialist decorating contractor meant we were able to select and apply the ideal coatings for the finishes throughout the toilet blocks in the reimagined and reconstructed property.

At the same time, our many years delivering built-in fire protection solutions from the industry’s leading practitioners also proved to be hugely valuable.

Despite the many challenges that come with the substantial renovation of an historic property at the heart of a conservation area, we were able to create passive fire protection systems that delivered a high measure of
performance in compliance with current standards. The building is expected to achieve the BREEAM Excellent rating.

The overall result is that an eight-storey space delivering a significant amount of top-quality office space is now available in the heart of one of London’s most exclusive neighbourhoods.

Meanwhile, the sensitive reconstruction of the building’s two neo-Georgian facades ensured the external appearance remains entirely consistent with its past and present surroundings.