Kingspan Access Flooring another London icon to its portfolio

KINGSPAN Access Floors has gained another contract for a new iconic London office building.

The Hull-based company has won a contract from Canary Wharf Contractors to supply 48,000 sq m of flooring to 20 Fenchurch Street, a 38-storey landmark office complex being built in the City of London which is known as the Walkie Talkie due to its highly distinctive shape, making it ‘flare’ outwards.

The news comes just a few months after Kingspan gained a contract to supply over 29,000 sq m of floor panels to another iconic London building – the 52-storey Leadenhall Building, known as the Cheesegrater.

Kingspan’s panels for 20 Fenchurch Street will be used on 18 floors of the 160 metre high building, including four floors to be occupied by the RSA Insurance Group.

Kingspan is due to start work on site at the end of August 2013 and the building is on schedule for completion in the second quarter of 2014.

Designed by world-renowned and award winning architect Rafael Viñoly, 20 Fenchurch Street is being developed by a joint venture of Land Securities and Canary Wharf Group.

It will provide more than 650,000 sq ft of office space and will be a striking addition to the London skyline. The iconic tower will feature a publicly accessible sky garden, which will become London’s highest public green space. The gardens will span the top three storeys, will be accessible by two express lifts and will include a viewing area, terrace, café, bar and restaurant. Fourteen double-deck lifts will serve the main office floors of the building.

20 Fenchurch Street will incorporate low carbon technologies, including a natural gas fuel cell – the first in the City – and photo voltaic cells on the roof.

Kingspan has installed an average of two million square metres of access flooring in London each year for the past 25 years in buildings including the ‘Gherkin’ (30 St Mary Axe), HSBC and Citibank in Canary Wharf, Heron Tower, One New Change and the Willis Building.