Planon Software, Cutting-edge, integrated building architecture that maximizes employee well-being, adapts to evolving needs, and helps boost operational efficiency
Welcome to 150 Holborn planon
One of the world’s largest consultancy firms, Sidara encompasses a
diverse range of brands specializing in architecture, cost and MEP
consultancy, city master planning, and energy transitioning.
Planon
The company’s vast portfolio spans projects across the globe, from Singapore’s Changi
International Airport to the Google Bay View campus in the U.S. With its new
headquarters at 150 Holborn in London, Sidara aimed to unite its diverse
member companies under one roof. The company faces a dual challenge. As a leading design firm driving
Sidara, focused on innovation and sustainability for its clients, aims to showcase the group’s collective expertise by creating a state-of-the-art workplace that meets the highest LEED and BREEAM design standards. Additionally, as an occupant, Sidara seeks to elevate the experience and well-being of its
1,000+ employees while supporting the company’s ESG objectives.
In order to ensure an innovative approach to the project, the company
brought Schneider Electric on board as a technology partner. Schneider’s
smart building experts first mapped 50+ use cases for three distinct user
profiles: employees, visitors, and facility staff. planon
These use cases laid the foundation for the architecture that adapts to evolving,
people-centric requirements. planon software
“The building is quite complex when you’re putting all these systems in.
So, we needed someone that has the knowledge and awareness,” said
Andrew Loudon, former Managing Director at Sidara planon
Goal planon
In its quest to create one
of the world’s smartest
buildings, Sidara sought to
forge technology partnerships
to develop a people-centric,
efficient, and sustainable
An environment that fosters
continuous innovation.
Challenge
Highlight Sidara’s expertise in a
state-of-the-art workplace, meet
top design standards, and
help achieve the company’s
net-zero goals by 2030 all
while ensuring the ultimate
experience and well-being for
1,000+ employees.
Solutions
Results
EcoStruxure Building
Data Platform, enabling
comprehensive data collection
for informed decision-making,
together with Planon’s
Integrated Workplace
Management System (IWMS)
for enhanced space utilization
and maintenance efficiency
Results
- 90 points Comfort Score in
The WELL Building Standard
in 2024, January through
mid-October (+2pt vs 2023) - The highest level of
WiredScore and SmartScore
certifications – Platinum - Certified under BREEAM
New Construction 2014 with
An Outstanding rating
From data to actionable insights
To create an integrated environment
for all building systems, and enable
them to “speak with one another”,
150 Holborn has been equipped
with Schneider’s EcoStruxure
Building a platform, spanning a whole
spectrum of solutions, from software
to connected products.
With 6,000 sensors tracking energy
use, occupancy patterns, and
more, the building technology
enables a conditioned based and
preventative maintenance approach.
Data from devices and systems is
analyzed in Schneider Electric’s
EcoStruxure cloud and transformed
into actionable insights within the
Planon software suite. These actions
can initiate work orders, projects,
and even automate building
settings, such as turning off lights or
adjusting the air conditioning.
“Data makes maintenance
processes better over time, and that
improvement never stops unless the
data stops flowing. Our building is
almost like a living and breathing
entity. It will contact the right people
to look at issues when they occur.
Rather than us having to discover the problem two days later. This results
in much faster response to issues and fewer instances of downtime,” says
Dan Cope, Head of Technology for Sidara.
With advanced building data, Sidara’s facility team can better understand
operational patterns and adjust the building management strategy on
the go. For example, the data on workspace utilization allowed the facility
team to discover that meeting rooms were significantly oversized. Another
example, the underutilization of the on-site restaurant on Fridays led to the
vendor no longer opening on that day.
“We were only able to do that by looking at the data; we can’t do that by
putting a finger in the air and making an assumption,” pointed out
Dan Cope.
Best-in-class indoor experience
The building has been designed with people in mind and its performance is continuously
monitored and adapted to evolving user requirements. Occupant comfort, including
temperature, humidity, VOC and CO2
emissions, is constantly measured according to the
criteria for the WELL Building Standard. The overall comfort score has grown from 88 in 2023
to 90 points in 2024 (January through mid-October) out of 100 total possible points.
What’s more, to deliver an unmatched indoor experience, the building offers an array
of smart functionalities, from personalizing comfort to booking meeting rooms. Planon’s
Integrated Workplace Management System (IWMS) combines data from Schneider
Electric’s Building Data Platform with user and business processes. This integration delivers
a seamless user experience that grants access to data and services from any device,
anywhere. At 150 Holborn, tenants can reserve shared meeting rooms using Microsoft
Outlook, room panels, or a dedicated mobile app. IoT data on occupancy, usage, and indoor
air quality (IAQ) enhances room bookings and utilization, and it also automates building
systems such as HVAC and lighting.
“We’ve been in here now for a year and a half pretty much, and it exceeded our expectations
in terms of seeing people working together,” said Andrew Loudon. “The uptake of people
coming into the office was far better than we anticipated.
Integrated for greater resilience, efficiency, and sustainability
Since opening its doors in 2023, 150 Holborn has
maintained 24/7 uptime. The EcoStruxure Building
The platform makes the building more resilient to faults,
thanks to data-driven condition-based monitoring, which
helps prevent disruptions and downtime of critical
assets. Additionally, power monitoring solutions detect
power quality issues and faults throughout the entire
electrical distribution infrastructure, from the incoming utility
feeds to low-voltage distribution points
The company proactively tracks and manages its
energy consumption, using energy metering to get an
understanding of how much energy is being used,
per floor. This information is communicated to building
occupants to drive sustainability-conscious behavior.
What’s more, energy management and building
automation technologies, combined with occupancy
detection and room booking systems, ensure that
energy is only used when and where it’s needed. Most
importantly, with all of these solutions in place Sidara is
able to make progress on its net-zero goals
Last but not least, the EcoStruxure Building platform
enhances security with an integrated access control
system, allowing for comprehensive monitoring and
control of entry and exit points.
Achieving this broad spectrum of outcomes is no small
feat. The Sidara and Schneider Electric teams delivered
functionalities with a significant level of complexity. For
example, Planon’s Integrated Workplace Management
System prepares rooms for meetings, e.g. regulates
temperature based on the number of attendees, in
tandem with the audio/visual and HVAC systems.
Behind the scenes, the EcoStruxure Building
Operation (EBO) Enterprise Server sends data from
all the interconnected subsystems (BMS, power
monitoring, lighting, fire, security, etc.) in near real time
to the EcoStruxure Building Data Platform. This solution
enables data access and overcomes integration
complexities when centralizing data from various
building systems.
100%
Average building
management
system health
To deliver a building with this level of integration,
Schneider Electric acted as the Master Systems
Integrator for the project, which involved orchestrating planon
all Schneider and third-party interfaces. “What we’ve
done uniquely here is combining it all together, which
Really brings out that smart aspect and helps us improve
Moving forward,” said Dan Cope. planon
One of the smartest buildings in town
With all these innovations, 150 Holborn received the highest level of
WiredScore and SmartScore certifications – Platinum. Schneider products
alone contributed to a SmartScore of 52.75 (out of a potential 100).
“150 Holborn’s WiredScore and SmartScore Platinum certifications
showcase its best-in-class smart technology, which delivers an exceptional
user experience, strong operational efficiency, and sustainability at its core.
With advanced systems enabling comprehensive data collection, Sidara can
make informed decisions to optimize building performance and enhance
tenant experience,” said Benjamin Thornton from WiredScore.
On top of that, the building was certified under BREEAM New Construction
2014 with an Outstanding rating. It’s projected to achieve 98% in BREEAM
Post Construction Certification, and is now on track to attain LEED Platinum.
But Sidara is not stopping there. The company considers its headquarters a
‘living lab’ where new technologies are tested in a real-life environment. The
learnings are applied to customer projects.
IoT-enabled solutions that drive operational and energy efficiency
EcoStruxure is our open, interoperable, IoT-enabled system architecture and platform. EcoStruxure delivers
enhanced value around safety, reliability, efficiency, sustainability, and connectivity for our customers. EcoStruxure
leverages advancements in IoT, mobility, sensing, cloud, analytics, and cybersecurity to deliver Innovation
at Every Level.
This includes Connected Products, Edge Control, and Apps, Analytics & Services, which are supported by
Customer Lifecycle Software. EcoStruxure has been deployed in almost 500,000 sites with the support of 20,000+
developers, 650,000 service providers and partners, 3,000 utilities, and connects over 2 million assets under
management. planon software
Connected Products
EcoStruxure
Power
The Internet of Things starts with
the best things. Our IoT-enabled
best-in-class connected products
include breakers, drives, UPSs,
relays, sensors, and more. Devices
with embedded intelligence drive
better decision-making throughout
operations.
Find out more about EcoStruxure
EcoStruxure planon
IT
Edge Control
EcoStruxure
Machine
Mission-critical scenarios can be
unpredictable, so control of devices
at the edge of the IoT network is
a must. This essential capability
provides real-time solutions that
enable local control at the edge,
protecting safety and uptime.
Infrastructure planon
EcoStruxure
Plant
Grid
Apps, Analytics & Services
Interoperability is imperative to
supporting the diverse hardware
and systems in building, data center,
industry, and grid environments.
EcoStruxure enables a breadth of
agnostic Applications, Analytics &
Services for seamless enterprise
integration
