Majestic is one of Leeds’ most iconic buildings, commanding a prominent position on City Square opposite the railway station, with a rich and varied history that holds memories for generations of people.
Originally built as a cinema in 1922, the venue transitioned to a ballroom in the 1950s and later became a bingo club in the late 1960s. In 1993, Historic England awarded it listed status. During the late 1990s, it reopened as the Majestic nightclub and functioned as a concert venue until 2008. In 2010, Rushbond Group acquired the building with the goal of restoring it to its former glory by transforming it into a modern office development that today serves as Channel 4’s national headquarters.
Sir Robert McAlpine was awarded the restoration contract and appointed G&H to design, install, and manage the MEP (Mechanical, Electrical, and Plumbing) services for a 66,000 sq ft facility. The project included modern Grade A workspaces, leisure areas, a three-story atrium reception, and three roof terraces. New floors were added to the structure, roof terraces were constructed on the fourth and fifth levels, and an iconic glass crown roof, known as the Palm Court Dome, was created.
As part of their work G&H Building Services designed and installed a ventilation system into the listed façade. Variable Refrigerant Flow (VRF) air conditioning provides heating and cooling to the internal spaces. Each air conditioning model produces condensate water as a bi-product, and to assist the project in achieving a ‘very good’ BREEAM rating, they installed a number of eco-cistem™ units throughout the building to make use of this grey water. The eco-cistem™ is eligible for BREEAM points under WAT 01 (Water Consumption).
The eco-cistem™ product is the world’s first toilet cistern designed to use air conditioning condensate water for flushing. This innovation enhances the sustainability credentials of a building. Normally, this condensate water would be directed into the waste pipe, but in an eco-cistem™ installation, it is redirected into a specially designed toilet cistern.
The cistern can hold up to 12 litres of condensate grey water, in addition to a 6-litre chamber dedicated to toilet flushing. The unit prioritises the use of this grey water for flushing and only draws on fresh mains water when no grey water is available. This ensures an efficient flush every time, without any decrease in performance, even when the condensate levels are low or the air conditioning units are not operational.
The eco-cistem™ savings calculations are presented in the ROI matrix below. The analysis estimates that each year, 1,179,892 litres of mains water will be saved on-site. While the actual temperature may differ from the calculated predictions and various parameters—such as occupancy levels and hours of use—are subject to fluctuation when comparing a modelled building to a real one, the savings are still anticipated to be significant.
David Davis, Pre-Construction Director at G&H explains: The use of air conditioning is increasing, coinciding with reports of water scarcity both worldwide and in the UK. Therefore, it makes sense to install the eco-cistem™ product, which captures condensate to assist in flushing toilets and reduce the burden on mains water supplies.
As with any new product, there were several questions asked by the main contractor before the eco-cistem™ product was specified. But this product has been in development for several years, has passed all the relevant accreditations, is manufactured in the UK, and has a reliable distribution network. We therefore confidently satisfied all posed questions.”
***BREEAM stands for Building Research Establishment Environmental Assessment Method. It is a sustainability assessment for buildings and infrastructure and measures a building’s environmental impact and performance throughout its lifecycle. https://breeam.com/about/how-breeam-works
