May 2021 is Local and History Awareness Month and to celebrate, we are sharing some interesting history about the heritage buildings we work in.

A heritage building is a building that possesses architectural, aesthetic, historic and cultural values. We have 10 years experience in optimising BMS controls in heritage buildings, most of which are listed. Therefore, we use technology to overcome common restrictions which include avoiding unsightly wires and limiting drilling into protected building fabrication. We are experts at balance these considerations alongside energy management, money savings and optimising occupancy comfort.

To give business owners true energy management comparisons between set periods, we calculate degree days and to do this accurately we need to ascertain the base temperature of a building. We mention this because the base temperature is greatly influenced by its thermal properties and a characteristic of heritage buildings is that they tend to have a heavyweight structure and a high thermal mass, resulting in the internal space being slower to change temperature. Our BMS controls engineers are experts in creating strategies to compensate for high thermal mass in heritage buildings, enabling us to control temperature and humidity which in turn protects our history.

Kenwood House, London

Kenwood House in Hampstead Heath is one of many properties in which we manage the energy on behalf of English Heritage. The breathtaking interiors and stunning world-class art collection, including Rembrandt’s ‘Portrait with Two Circles’, are free for everyone to enjoy and can be booked here. Kenwood House was originally constructed in the 17th century and served as a residence for the Earl of Mansfield during the 18th and 19th centuries. The grounds are beautiful and have expanded over the years and they are also free for the public to enjoy.

King’s College, London

King’s College is a public university and was founded in 1829. King’s College is linked with Guy’s Hospital and St. Thomas Hospital, and it’s buildings are spread across Denmark Hill, The Strand and Waterloo.  In 1815 Poet John Keats trained at Guy’s Hospital as an apothecary which is someone who makes and sells medical drugs.  Florence Nightingale (1820–1910) founded the world’s first professional school of nursing at St Thomas’ Hospital, which is now called King’s Florence Nightingale Faculty of Nursing, Midwifery & Palliative Care. We wonder how many air changes happened in hospital theatres back in 1815! There are many more famous people you would have heard of who trained at King’s College.

Sackville Street, London

BOSS CONTROLS optimises BMS controls in a number of heritage buildings in London, which have now been converted to offices. Sackville Street, London, is home to 17 businesses. The buildings date back to 1536 and the street was originally known as Stone Conduit Close.  Famous residents in this street include Willem van de Velde the Elder, who was a Dutch seascape painter. And also Dr John Snow, who was an English Physician connected with cholera research and who’s work is noted by King’s College. The street was also home to Sackville Gallery which was known for futurist paintings. The street also featured in Jane Austen’s Sense and Sensibility (1811).

Wentworth Golf Club

Wentworth Golf Club is world-class golf club located in Surrey near Windsor Castle. The clubhouse is in a beautiful heritage building,  surrounded by 700 hectares of land – home to three golf courses. Two of the courses were designed by Harry Colt, the first being opened in 1926 and the latest course was designed by John Jacobs in 1990. Wentworth Golf Club was originally the home of the Ryder Cup and now the European PGA, World Match Play and Senior Masters are held there, with the greatest golfing heroes claiming victory on Wentworth’s courses. Wentworth Golf Club is one of several prestigious golf clubs where we have combined sensor technology with BMS controls and saved the businesses thousands of pounds in annual energy costs.

Hippodrome Casino, London

We have been working with the Hippodrome Casino for many years, and they have recently upgraded to our Remote Solutions Centre. The London Hippodrome has been repurposed many times for different businesses since it originally opened in 1900 as a theatre. Back then, it featured a stage that sank into a 230ft, 100k gallon tank of water with water fountains for aquatic shows. It then became a music hall in 1909 hosting Tchaikovsky’s Swan Lake and the first official jazz gig. In 1958 the interior was remodelled into a nightclub (The Talk of the Town) and many famous acts sang there including Diana Ross and Shirley Bassey. In 1983, Peter Stringfellow took ownership remodelling it once again. It was sold and repurposed a few times until in 2009 when it became The Hippodrome Casino and has been a huge success since then. Magic Mike is one of a number of attractions.

We hope you enjoyed our historic blog.

If you would like further information about how BOSS CONTROLS can help to preserve the history of your heritage building and its artefacts, while helping you balance your energy management and energy costs, call our sales team on 01403 886508 or email sales@bosscontrols.co.uk.

We wish all our clients a happy re-opening after the pandemic.

Photo credits: 

• King’s College: Diliff, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Creative Commons
• Kenwood House: Mikegr, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Creative Commons
• Sackville Road, London: Mikegr, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Creative Commons
• Wentworth Golf Club:  cc-by-sa/2.0 – © James Denham – geograph.org.uk/p/2950658
• Hippodrome Casino: Bohao Zhao, CC BY 3.0, via Creative Commons