A palace fit for Her Majesty The Queen for £320 million - 11 January 2010
Buckingham Palace is famous for being the most expensive home in the world you’ll never be able to buy but according to cost consultants, Faithful+Gould, you could build a new energy-efficient replica for £320 million.
Faithful+Gould, a part of the Atkins engineering design group, undertook a technical assessment of the current Buckingham Palace as part of a review of famous UK monuments by the Chartered Institute of Building’s magazine, Construction Manager. It worked out the cost of building a replica of the Palace, using the latest construction methods and materials, would take three and half years. Using a carbon calculator developed by Faithful+Gould for the Carbon Trust the team also assessed that the new Palace would emit 400 tonnes of CO2 per year less than the original.
Mathew Fenner, Faithful+Gould project manager, explained: “Clearly as we were dealing with one of the UK’s most important national monuments the preservation of its heritage characteristics was the most important consideration. However the idea was also to create a technically superior building and that meant using innovative design solutions and costing in a solid project management plan.
“Although the building externally would have a traditional appearance we would include substantial levels of insulation in the walls, floors and loft space which should pay for itself in as little as two years. This was considered a key priority with the current Palace’s annual utility bill spend estimated at around £2.2 million. The insulation would cut heat loss by up to 90% compared to an un-insulated building.
“In addition, highly efficient double glazing systems would be used to replace the existing 760 traditional windows. They would be designed to replicate the original windows but would cut heat loss by half. Further carbon reductions would be achieved by installing photovoltaic panels, heat recovery systems and ground source heat pumps (subject to tube lines, escape tunnels and nuclear bunkers!) whilst grey and rainwater water harvesting could reduce potable water consumption dramatically.”
The total build cost came in at £320 million, which included the construction of 19 state rooms, 78 bathrooms, and 52 principle bedrooms, with 775 separate areas including hallways and staircases in total. This was around ten times the original purchase, build and extension costs (incurred between 1761 and 1913) of around £33 million, in today’s terms.
Including land costs, which on the current 40 acre site could be around £440 million, the price tag would be a combined £760 million, making it the most expensive residential property in the world. The closest challenger is the Villa Leópolda, on the Cote d’Azur, which was bought by an un-named Russian oil oligarch in 2008 for £390 million.
The Faithful+Gould team has extensive experience working on historically sensitive projects including project management of the Imperial War Museum restoration programme in London. Additionally Faithful+Gould has an international heritage & arts portfolio that includes work on the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York, and the Sheikh Zayed National Museum in Abu Dhabi.
The other UK monuments looked at by Construction Manager magazine were Stonehenge, which could be rebuilt for £815,000, and the Clifton Suspension Bridge which came with a price tag of £52 million.
Ends
For more information:
Andy Winstanley
Head of media relations +44 (0)1372 752018 / +44 (0)7803 259643
andy.winstanley@atkinsglobal.com
Notes to editors:
Atkins (www.atkinsglobal.com) is one of the world's leading engineering and design consultancies. We have the depth and breadth of technical expertise to respond both to the complex challenges of major infrastructure projects, and the urgent transition to a low-carbon economy. Whether it’s the concept for a new skyscraper, the upgrade of a rail network, the modelling of a flood defence system or the improvement of a management process, we plan, design and enable solutions.
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- High profile transport planning and urban design – our innovative scheme to deliver a diagonal crossing at London’s Oxford Circus has helped tackle the problem of pedestrian crowding;
- Key rail projects – providing architectural and engineering design services on London’s Crossrail, Europe’s biggest civil engineering project, and designing stations, tunnelling and track systems on Gautrain, South Africa’s first high speed line.
- Multidisciplinary building design – North Road Primary School in Darlington is an exemplar project which raises standards for environmental design and community engagement;
- Vital water and environmental projects – as part of a joint venture, Atkins is providing technical assistance to the Water Supply and Sanitation Sector Reform Programme in Nigeria, which will benefit up to three million people.
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