Daikin's VRV 5 forms part of award-winning Paradise SE11's success

This vacant former Costa Coffee roastery site on Old Paradise Street, overlooking the open green space of Old Paradise Gardens, has now been transformed into a new G+5 storey CAT A office building.

Part of the Lambeth Palace Conservation Area, the project's underlying aim was to create a low-carbon and highly sustainable building with strong ties to its context and rich cultural heritage. The finished project has set a new benchmark for low-carbon workspaces in London.

With ‘sustainable workplace’ as the project’s stated aim, a highly efficient HVAC system was key to achieving RIBA’s net-zero carbon challenge. The system was specified by MEP consultants, Wallace Whittle Ltd, on behalf of developers, Bywater, with installation by Stothers (M&E) Ltd.

“Sustainability and low global warming potential (GWP) were central to this project. When Daikin introduced its new R-32 VRV 5, it came to the forefront as an ideal solution for Old Paradise Street, with average +8% increase in the average SEER/SCOP compared to R-410A,” said Aidan Keown, Associate, Wallace Whittle Ltd.

On the ground floor, Daikin’s FXUA-A 4-way under ceiling suspended cassettes were installed in the lobby, providing high energy efficiency heating and cooling in the high ceiling area without capacity loss. Combined with Daikin’s R-32 Bluevolution technology, the FXUA-A cassettes reduce environmental impact by 68% compared to R-410A.

Cost effective from start to finish

Daikin’s VRV 5 is designed for ease of installation, service and maintenance alongside lifetime cost effectiveness, meeting the needs of installers, maintenance contractors and end users.

The VRV 5 units are installed on the building’s roof, with fan coils on each floor. Exposed services were an architectural requirement, lending an open, airy yet industrial feel that fits with the building aesthetic and desire for sustainability to be ‘experienced’ rather than hidden.

BREEAM ‘Excellent’, WELL Gold and a benchmark for embodied carbon

The use of mass timber* for the structure means the building’s overall embodied carbon emissions are 35% lower than the RIBA 2030 target, achieving BREEAM ‘Excellent’ and WELL Gold. Coupled with a durable and beautiful ceramic exterior, it’s no surprise this exceptional building was the Winner of the New London Awards 2020 Working category and Structural Timber Awards’ Best Commercial Building and Project of the Year. 

More recently, Paradise SE11 won ‘Lifecycle Impact Commitment’ at The BREEAM Awards 2026, a category celebrating projects “that have achieved or are pursuing verified net zero performance, setting a benchmark for climate leadership”.

Bywater’s Paradise project is the UK’s first mass timber frame office building on London’s South Bank. For Daikin, being part of a project that sets a new bar for embodied carbon and occupant wellbeing in London’s workspaces is a genuine milestone. 

* Mass timber products are thick, compressed layers of wood, creating strong, structural load-bearing elements for the construction of modern, low-carbon tall buildings (typically over four storeys).