Emberton House Olympia
Details
- Architect: SPPARC
- Contractor: Laing O'Rourke
- Location: London
- Status: Completed
Services
- RIBA Stage 4 & 5 Façade Consultancy
Emberton House Olympia
Details
- Architect: SPPARC
- Contractor: Laing O'Rourke
- Location: London
- Status: Completed
Services
- RIBA Stage 4 & 5 Façade Consultancy
How do you transform a Grade II-listed multi-storey car park from 1937 into a high-performing destination for education, hospitality and leisure, while preserving the character that makes it architecturally significant?
At Olympia’s Emberton House in West Kensington, specialist façade engineering played a key role in making that transformation possible.
Originally designed by Joseph Emberton, the Olympia Garage was one of the largest multi-storey car parks in Europe when it was completed, providing essential infrastructure for the Olympia Exhibition Centre. Today, the building has been reimagined as a seven-storey mixed-use development providing 18,000m² of floor space, bringing together a creative arts school for 450 students, a gym, and a 204-room hotel with lounge, meeting, reception and dining facilities.
( ↑ ) Credit: Brendan-Bell-Photic
( ↑ ) Test witnessing
We provided façade engineering consultancy throughout the project, working closely with the design and construction teams to develop the building envelope strategy during RIBA Stages 4 and 5. The brief called for a significant improvement in thermal and environmental performance while carefully preserving Joseph Emberton’s distinctive streamlined architectural style and integrating new interventions with the retained historic façade. The building was also vertically extended to incorporate a bespoke unitised curtain wall system.
Delivered by Laing O’Rourke, Emberton House forms an important part of the wider £1.3 billion transformation of Olympia into a leading cultural, entertainment and business destination.
( ↑ ) Pillar Hall and Emberton House. Credit: Brendan-Bell-Photic
The result demonstrates the value of façade engineering in balancing heritage conservation with contemporary performance requirements. Through close collaboration and technical expertise, the project has extended the life of an important historic structure while enabling an ambitious new use for future generations.
We are proud to have contributed to the regeneration of this landmark building and to the continuing evolution of Olympia and West Kensington.
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