24 King William Street, London, EC4 9A

“A combination of factors prompted us to choose Fujitec for this challenging project. Their willingness to prove that they could deliver a high-quality ride product, the samples they presented after an extensive market search, commercially competitiveness. Also, we knew they were keen to work with us to install their first Destination Control lifts in the UK, this was to be a flagship project so we knew we would have their full commitment.”

Leslie Beharry, Senior Building Services Manager, VolkerFitzpatrick

CHALLENGE

Today, 24 King William Street is an impressive building in an outstanding location – at the North end of London Bridge, central London. Prior to this it was a dated and underutilised 1980s steel framed office block that needed to be re-developed from steel frame and slab upwards and, in that process, two extra floors added together with a complete re-fresh of the key support services – security systems, access control and lifts.

The main entrance on the ground floor is an architectural statement that was to be enhanced during the development through a very high quality, bespoke, gold brass finish surrounding large glass panes. The ground-floor was used for reception and a number of upmarket retail spaces. The remaining 9 floors were Cat A office space, let floor by floor on a multi-tenant basis which meant the security systems, lifts and access control programmes had to be integrated to limit access to each floor.



The building needed 3 passenger lifts – two to hold 16 and one to carry17 persons – with one being a fire-fighting lift with a side entry door. They were to be fitted with energy efficient Destination Control – book a call for the floor you want rather than press a button for direction.

To align with the nature of the building and the architectural requirements, the finishes inside the lift cars were to match that of the building entrance. This created significant challenges as did the fact that the back wall was at an angle and the requirement was for the biggest lift to fit into the smallest part of the building.

APPROACH

VolkerFitzpatrick had won the building re-development contract and took on the challenge of demolition and re-build in a very difficult location. With no access for conventional cranes, the company successfully used spider cranes. The main superstructure was retained, but that’s all, making this complex for the lift installer because the building should be watertight before the lifts are installed.

A tender was issued to 4 companies including Fujitec. As part of the due diligence process, Leslie Beharry, Senior Building Services Manager, VolkerFitzpatrick, visited two Fujitec lift projects in London and was impressed with the quality of product and the smooth lift car ride. Fujitec provided samples and confirmed that they could deliver the level of finish required by the architects, examined the existing lift shafts at 24King William Street which were not exactly rectangular, the back wall was at an angle, and identified the additional steel struts necessary to ensure the lift shafts were the right shape for the lift car.

DESIGN

Customisation of our standard products to meet the specific design requirements

SOFTWARE

Software Engineer came over from Japan to develop the software interface, first of its kind in the UK, and integrate all the software programming, working closely with the security and Access Control suppliers.

Japan also sent a Commissioning Engineer to help complete the project

“The timing schedule was tight and at one point there was rain coming in because the building had not yet been capped. Fujitec did their absolute upmost to support us in this exceptional situation which highlighted the company’s commitment to complete the project on time. There was never a doubt that Fujitec were going to finish the project successfully, the commitment and response to changes as the project progressed were excellent.”

Leslie Beharry

Senior Building Services Manager, VolkerFitzpatrick