A Hampshire air conditioning company has hit the heights on its most prestigious project so far – the iconic Shard skyscraper.
Closewood Air Conditioning has just successfully completed a £600,000 project at the futuristic London landmark, which is Britain’s tallest building.
Skilled technicians from the Havant-based company carefully fitted, tested and validated various new state-of-the-art systems on nine floors of the 87-storey tower at London Bridge.
Some 27 employees were working at any one time on the eight-month-long project, which included a hotel reception, lobby, staff areas, restaurants, catering area, champagne bar, plant room, lounges and hotel rooms.
Dean Kirby, Closewood’s managing director, said: “The Shard is our most prestigious project so far.
“It was also the most pressurised environment that we have worked in and the highest installation we have carried out.
“The project was completed on time and required strong commitment from our highly skilled employees, who worked nearly four months of night shifts.”
Dean added: “There was a real sense of professional pride, responsibility and feel-good factor about delivering this high quality and advanced installation at the Shard.
“To be involved in something so high profile – in height and reputation – and taking the project to completion gave us a real sense of achievement.”
Closewood installed and tested systems on the ground floor and upper floors up to level 52 – including ventilation, insulation and plumbing – and also had design input.
Sanitary ware installed was of a high specification from manufacturers such as Toto, Hansgrohe, Grohe & Duravit which was sourced from Germany.
Other specialist services engaged included Gaia underfloor heating and Closewood also working on the Trench heating system within the building.
Closewood is based in Downley Road and employs 20 direct labour employees which are supplemented by a core group of sub-contract labour whom have worked with Closewood for more than 10 years.
Previous prestigious projects have included the installation of mechanical services within Arundel Castle, the Olympic Village and the National Lottery television studio as well as numerous offices refurbishments and high-end residential properties.
The 87-storey high Shard, also known as London Bridge Tower, is made up of restaurants, offices, a health clinic and apartments.
Designed by Italian architect Renzo Piano, it was recently a finalist for the UK’s most prestigious award for new buildings, the Riba Stirling Prize.
At 310m (1,1016 ft), the Shard is the highest building in the UK and the second highest in Europe, replacing Canary Wharf in the UK.
It has 360-degree views from the top stretching for 40 miles.
Created with eight shards of transparent and angled tinted glass, the building was inspired by a church spire and is designed to reflect the movement of the sky.
