London hospital building - world's tallest - to get badly needed renovation

Guy’s Tower in London, the tallest hospital building in the world, is getting a much needed renovation. In recent years, the 143-meter-high (about 470 feet) building—actually two towers connected by a bridge—has been falling apart. Small pieces of concrete have started to fall off the towers, endangering pedestrians.
Jan. 25, 2012

Guy’s Tower in London, the tallest hospital building in the world, is getting a much needed renovation. In recent years, the 143-meter-high (about 470 feet) building—actually two towers connected by a bridge—has been falling apart. Small pieces of concrete have started to fall off the towers, endangering pedestrians. 

The design team led by Arup addressed issues such as how much of the façade to reclad, how to deal with cold bridging, and how to do the work while the building is operational. Each option was modeled and plotted on a graph of cost versus energy efficiency to see where the greatest green gain could be achieved while keeping costs reasonable. The most cost-effective solution was to fit a new façade in front of the existing columns of one tower, and to fully clad the other tower with an aluminum rainscreen.

(http://www.forumforthefuture.org/greenfutures/articles/world%E2%80%99s-tallest-hospital-gets-makeover) 

About the Author

Drew Ballensky

Drew Ballensky is general manager of Duro-Last Roofing, Inc.’s central U.S. facility in Iowa and company spokesman for Duro-Last’s cool roofing, sustainability and architectural education programs. He is past-president of the Chemical Fabrics and Film Association and chairman of CFFA’s Vinyl Roofing Division. Drew earned his bachelor’s degree in industrial technology from the University of Northern Iowa and master’s degree in business administration from Florida State University. Drew has over 29 years experience in business and industry in various engineering and managerial capacities. He has worked in the U.S. and Canadian operations for a major international manufacturer of pre-engineered steel buildings, was a financial analyst with a major athletic apparel manufacturer and was an owner of a general contracting company.
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