The Client

The Shard, a 306 metre glass spire, will be home to office space, a five-star hotel, retail units, restaurants, and residential apartments spread across 600,000 sq.ft and 72 storeys once completed in 2012 by main contractors Mace Group. At the time of completion the building is the tallest in the European Union and its dedicated CHP will provide most of the power needed by the buildings occupants.

The Challenge

To meet the power demands of a development of The Shard’s scale requires CHP units with an electrical output of 1,131kW and a thermal output of 1,199kW. To protect the building’s occupiers from the potential noise of this large unit required a carefully designed acoustic solution. The central London location of the site and the CHP being situated below ground added further complications to the delivery of the scheme.

The Solution

Employed by Clarke Energy, Kimpton Energy Solutions were to design, manufacture and install an acoustic enclosure that provides the necessary noise attenuation.

Kimpton designed and manufactured the enclosure comprising steel framework, acoustic panelling and access doors. The building space constraints dictated that the enclosure was assembled in situ around the machine on site.

The CHP enclosure was designed as a modular construction suitable for flat-pack transportation for assembly on site because the CHP was being located in the basement.

The enclosure was designed and achieved a sound power reduction of 70dB(A) at 1 metre.