The Crystal - Another milestone in developing the Green Enterprise District in London

In 2010 London decided to launch a low carbon enterprise district in the East of London with the goal to serve as a role model example of sustainable urban development - and to also prove to the world, that it is possible to achieve growth in a sustainable way.

Electrical engineering company Siemens recently announced that their Siemens Urban Sustainability Center, a 30million Pound exhibition center in the heart of the Green Enterprise District, will open in the summer of 2012.

The Crystal, as the building will be called, will serve as permanent showcase for new sustainable technologies from around the globe and sight for educational learning as well as meeting point for city decision makers, planners and architects.

Besides, innovative features of the building include the use of recycled steel, photovoltaic panels, energy efficient lighting, rainwater harvesting, ground source heat pumps and many more.

The involvement of Wilkinson Eyre Architects, which are renowned for bringing together sustainable architecture with cutting edge design, is adding to the fact that there might be yet another reason besides the Olympic Games to visit London this summer.

Picture provided by Siemens