Member Article

Grundfos's leading role in new London landmark

A SUNDERLAND company is playing a key role in the development of a new landmark building in central London.

Workers at Castletown pump manufacturer Grundfos are working flat out to deliver 39 heat interface units for a skyscraper taking shape at the heart of the City of London. The building, 70 St Mary Axe, is already being called ‘Can of Ham’ because of its distinctive design and is in the same street at the famous ‘Gherkin’ building.

The pumps, designed and built in Sunderland, will provide air conditioning and hot water for the building’s tenants. Grundfos was originally given 20 weeks to produce the pumps but the delivery schedule was then shortened to 11 weeks.

John Austin, Engineering and Quality Manager at Grundfos, explained: “Our production team is working flat out to deliver the pumps to Mace, the construction company building 70 St Mary Axe, by May 23. Shortening the delivery schedule has given us a challenge, but we’ll deliver on time.”

The units, which each weigh about a ton and are about seven feet high and nine feet wide, provide cold water for the building’s air conditioning and hot water for its heating. The 24-storey building is 295ft high which produced a challenge to the Grundfos designers and engineers.

“The floor space in these city of London buildings is so expensive that there’s very little allowed for the services. We had very little space to fit a lot of equipment in, causing some real challenges. However, our engineers Gavin Rowell and Steve O’Donnell came up with a solution and a bespoke design that worked in this iconic building. “A team of 20 working under Production Supervisor Jonny Smith has been working incredibly hard to get the order completed in time,” explained John.

The units are being produced at a rate of up to six a week and are then being transported down to London and hoisted by crane to the ‘Can of Ham’s’ upper floors where they are being stored until the lower floors are ready to receive them. Most floors will have two of the units each.

Last year, Grundfos completed a similar, but smaller, order for 28 units at the prestigious Chelsea Barracks development of luxury homes. The development is reported to be the most expensive real estate in the world.

“We were proud to be involved in the Chelsea Barracks project and now to be working on a new landmark building in the capital. It’s great to think a Sunderland company is playing an important role in the construction of such an iconic building. We’re also quoting for similar work on another new London skyscraper,” said John.

The recent orders have confirmed the reputation of Grundfos in Sunderland as the go-to company for engineered-to-order (ETO) pump solutions.

Mark Lister, General Manager at Grundfos, added: “Our ETO business grew by more than 100 per cent last year and over the past few years we’ve excelled in providing innovative and imaginative solutions for clients facing bespoke booster system, firefighting or other ETO challenges.

“The height of the building in St Mary Axe and the shortened delivery schedule gave our engineers and production team something to think about, but we’ve shown we can design, build and deliver such complex packages under pressure. I’m really proud of the workforce and what they’ve accomplished.”

Grundfos, a Danish company, is the world’s leading pump manufacturer and employs more than 18,000 people globally. It opened a Wearside plant in 1973.

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Grundfos .