Arup has been responsible for designing a number of engineering services including Building Services, Vertical Transportation, Acoustics, Fire, Security and Lighting. Working in close collaboration with architects Rogers Stirk Harbour + Partners for the Trustees of the British Museum, Arup has designed state of the art environmental services that allow the conditions to be precisely and efficiently controlled. This enables the preservation and conservation of irreplaceable artefacts with the minimum of energy consumption.
The 18,000m2 extension houses a conservation and research wing with modern laboratories, a logistics hub for handling artefacts, offices and collection storage areas as well as the new Sainsbury Exhibitions Gallery and associated suite. This will enable the majority of the British Museum’s operations to take place on the main campus for the first time.
Energy related design features include heat recovery and variable flow on all ventilation and pipework systems, laboratory fume and dust exhausts and lighting controls. Other energy saving controls such as visitor monitoring to track fresh air requirements have also been incorporated.