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980 Great West Road

Brentford, UK

Delivering integrated engineering, sustainability and technical advisory at masterplan and building scale, º£½ÇÊÓƵ helped transform the former GSK headquarters at 980 Great West Road into a viable, low-carbon and future-focused mixed-use neighbourhood.

From the earliest stages, the team worked alongside Hadley Property Group and a multidisciplinary design team to shape a development strategy rooted in circular economy thinking, robust infrastructure planning and high-performance building design.

Set within a 5.4 hectare site in Brentford, the scheme reimagines a vacant corporate campus as a vibrant new district, delivering up to 2,324 homes alongside commercial, community and educational uses. Central to the vision is a reuse-first approach, retaining significant elements of the existing structures and opening the previously inward-looking site to its surroundings, reconnecting it with Boston Manor Park, the River Brent and the wider town.

º£½ÇÊÓƵ’s role spanned building services engineering (MEP), facades engineering, energy, and utilities infrastructure, providing the technical rigour needed to convert an ambitious masterplan into a deliverable proposition. Through data-led decision making and close collaboration with the wider design team, the project demonstrates how large-scale regeneration can be both commercially viable and environmentally responsible.

We were part of a reuse-first strategy, unlocking major embodied carbon savings while maintaining commercial viability across a complex mixed-use masterplan

The team optimised facade and environmental performance through advanced modelling, reducing energy demand and avoiding costly reliance on mechanical cooling systems.

Our experts developed integrated infrastructure and utilities strategies, de-risking delivery and enabling a phased, scalable approach across the entire site.

The team aligned sustainability ambition with technical delivery, helping secure planning approval with a robust, evidence-led case for low-carbon regeneration.

Challenge

The redevelopment of 980 Great West Road presented a complex set of interrelated challenges, driven by the scale of the site, the condition of the existing buildings and the ambition to deliver a genuinely low-carbon scheme.

At its core was the question of whether to retain or demolish the existing headquarters buildings. Originally designed in the early 2000s as a bespoke corporate campus, the structures were not naturally suited to residential conversion. Balancing the technical constraints of retrofit with the environmental imperative to reduce embodied carbon required detailed interrogation of the existing assets, supported by extensive data recovery and modelling. The team needed to determine where retention was viable, where intervention was required and how to integrate new build elements without compromising the overall strategy.

The structural limitations of the retained buildings introduced further complexity. The proposal to extend the existing tower upward, while retaining key structural elements, placed strict constraints on additional loadings. This directly influenced facade design, material selection and construction methodology, requiring highly engineered solutions from Hadley Property Group and architects Haworth Tompkins that minimised weight while maintaining performance.

Environmental conditions on the site added another layer of challenge. Its proximity to the M4 corridor created significant noise and air quality constraints, while also affecting strategies for natural ventilation. At the same time, the ambition to adopt a passive-first approach meant that overheating, daylight and energy performance had to be carefully balanced across a dense, mixed-use masterplan.

Infrastructure and utilities posed a further challenge at scale. The site contained extensive existing services infrastructure, much of which required diversion, disconnection or complete reconfiguration. Early-stage assessments identified potential capacity constraints within local networks, particularly electricity, requiring ongoing engagement with statutory providers to establish viable connections and reinforcement strategies. Finally, the project needed to respond to a demanding regulatory and planning context. Aligning with the London Plan, local policy and evolving sustainability benchmarks required a comprehensive and flexible strategy that could respond to multiple performance criteria, from carbon reduction and biodiversity to water use and transport.

Solution

The entire team’s response brought together technical excellence and strategic thinking to address these challenges in an integrated and coordinated way.

At masterplan level, the team supported a shift from a demolition-led approach to a retention-first strategy, underpinned by rigorous whole life carbon analysis. By identifying opportunities to retain the basement, substructure and significant portions of the superstructure, the team helped establish a development approach that significantly reduced embodied carbon while maintaining commercial viability. This was complemented by the development of a project-specific sustainability framework, aligning policy requirements with ambitious, measurable targets across energy, carbon, water, transport and materials.

The facade strategy for the retained tower was a critical component of this approach. Working closely with architects and structural engineers, º£½ÇÊÓƵ developed solutions that balanced thermal performance, structural constraints and buildability. Lightweight facade systems, including ultra-high performance concrete and rainscreen options, were evaluated to minimise loadings while achieving the required environmental performance. Detailed thermal modelling informed key design decisions, including glazing ratios, solar control and insulation strategies, ensuring compliance with Part L and supporting a fabric-first approach.

To address the competing demands of overheating, daylight and operational energy, the team deployed advanced modelling and parametric design tools. These enabled the optimisation of facade performance and building systems across multiple scenarios, reducing reliance on mechanical cooling and supporting a passive-first design ethos. This approach was particularly valuable in mitigating the constraints imposed by site noise, allowing for carefully controlled natural ventilation strategies supported by efficient mechanical systems where required.

At an infrastructure level, º£½ÇÊÓƵ led the development of coordinated utilities strategies to enable delivery of the masterplan. This included detailed assessments of existing networks, identification of required diversions and development of new distribution strategies for water, electricity and telecommunications. By engaging early with utility providers and defining phased infrastructure solutions, the team reduced delivery risk and supported the overall viability of the scheme. Throughout, collaboration was central to the process. Regular workshops with architects, engineers and stakeholders ensured that technical solutions were aligned with the architectural vision and commercial objectives, enabling informed decision making at every stage.

Value

The team’s contribution created measurable value for both the client and the wider project, enabling an ambitious vision to be realised with confidence.

Fundamentally, the whole team’s work de-risked the scheme. By providing robust evidence to support a retention-led strategy, º£½ÇÊÓƵ helped unlock significant embodied carbon savings while avoiding the costs and programme implications of full demolition. This approach also strengthened the planning case, aligning the proposal with policy priorities around circular economy and sustainability. We drew on a national steel reuse library to identify opportunities for retaining and repurposing existing structural elements, further reducing embodied carbon across the scheme.

The site is located in an area of west London that is well documented as having significant constraints in power supply for new developments. º£½ÇÊÓƵ engaged in early dialogue with the incumbent utility provider to preserve the existing power capacity already allocated to the site, successfully negotiating its novation to Hadley Property Group. Securing this capacity not only ensured long-term resilience of supply but also avoided substantial capital costs and delays associated with new connections, materially enhancing the site’s viability and overall value.

The integration of advanced modelling and performance-led design from the team delivered further value by optimising building performance without over-specification. In particular, the optimisation of facade design and environmental strategy reduced the need for extensive comfort cooling, generating substantial cost savings while improving long-term operational efficiency.

At a masterplan scale, the coordination of utilities and infrastructure ensured that the development is both deliverable and adaptable. Early identification of constraints and clear strategies for connection and distribution reduced uncertainty and provided a reliable framework for future design stages.

º£½ÇÊÓƵ’s multidisciplinary expertise also supported a joined-up approach that bridged the gap between design ambition and practical delivery. By aligning sustainability goals with commercial realities, the team ensured that environmental performance did not come at the expense of viability. The result is a project that sets a new benchmark for large-scale urban regeneration. Through a combination of circular design, high-performance engineering and collaborative delivery, 980 Great West Road demonstrates how complex existing sites can be transformed into resilient, low-carbon neighbourhoods that create lasting value for communities, clients and the environment.