Lancelot Place

As with any project, this one had its challenges, the foremost of which was space – an unsurprising challenge given the scope and location of the development with three storeys below ground in central London. Fitting all necessary components into the available space has been a fantastic collaborative exercise, often coming down to incredibly detailed analytics to ensure that everything fits.

This was particularly relevant in the installation of ground source heat pumps and their boreholes. Due to spatial limitations, air source heat pumps were not an option, so we opted for a ground sourced alternative. The boreholes were at the limit of what we could physically fit into the development footprint, and the decision to drill them was made in very close collaboration with the developers, a third-party specialist, the wider design team, and ourselves. This is just one reason why being able to model every inch of the space with the BIM level two has been pivotal in this project to ensure that, like puzzle pieces, everything fits perfectly in its place.

The finished buildings will be completely fossil-free and will comply with the London Plan – a set of building standards that aim for a consistent 30% improvement on current building regulations for England.

Lancelot Place is an exercise in maximising useable space on very narrow building plots in Knightsbridge, London.

E8 Architecture