Comfort Certainty
Premium experience
Aesthetic integration
Hilson Moran’s Living Lab, developed in collaboration with Gensler, serves as both the company’s London headquarters and a working testbed for workplace design, sustainability and building services innovation. Designed around wellbeing, collaboration and operational performance, the space makes building services visible, measurable and continuously evaluated in operation.
Purpose-built as both a workplace and engineering testbed, the Living Lab uses operational data and occupant feedback to assess emerging technologies and validate design intent against measured performance. Unlike a traditional office fit-out, it is designed to evolve over time through continuous learning and performance monitoring.
Artus Air was selected to cool the River Café, a highly glazed space exposed to significant solar gains and changing occupancy throughout the day. After two years in operation, the project provides valuable insights into long-term comfort and performance in a live working environment, where building performance is continuously monitored and evaluated.
Client
Hilson Moran
Address
Hay’s Galleria, London SE1 2HP
Build Type
Office Retrofit
Developer
Hilson Moran
Architect
Gensler
MEP contractor
Sales Group
contractor
ISG
“Artus is certainly a front-runner in the Living Lab compared to the other cooling providers we are testing in the space. On a number of especially hot days recently, even during our summer all-staff event, it feels very comfortable.”
Marie Louise Schembri | Sustainability Director| Hilson Moran
Emerging technologies are often tested in controlled environments before being introduced into occupied buildings. When Artus Air first approached Hilson Moran with the AR75, the product was still in development. There were no reference projects and no operational data available.
The Living Lab provided an opportunity to test whether the technology could deliver the levels of comfort, performance and efficiency predicted during design. As the space is home to Hilson Moran colleagues, maintaining a consistently comfortable environment throughout the testing period was essential. The challenge was not simply installing a new product but understanding how it would perform in a live workplace with changing occupancy patterns, solar gains and seasonal demands.
“The Artus units have exceeded all expectations, especially considering their compact form factor. Artus is half the size but delivers the same performance as a ducted-type FCU.
We designed 6xAR75s into the River Café and have only ever needed to install 4, leaving two branches unconnected. This provides a continuous visual reminder of how effectively the units operate in practice.”
After two years in operation, the Living Lab continues to demonstrate how comfort cooling performs under live workplace conditions. Continuous monitoring provides objective evidence that complements occupant feedback, helping validate design intent against measured outcomes.
Temperature stability
Monitoring shows consistently stable internal temperatures throughout the testing period, even as occupancy levels and external conditions changed.
Air velocity
Average air speeds remained below the 0.25m/s comfort threshold, with occasional spikes reflecting occupants moving close to the sensor rather than system performance.
The Living Lab has shown that the true value of innovation is realised after occupation. By combining operational data with occupant feedback, Hilson Moran has been able to move beyond predicted performance to measurable outcomes.
The project demonstrates how collaboration, continuous monitoring and a willingness to test new ideas can reduce the perceived risk of innovation while providing stronger evidence for future specification.
Most importantly, the Living Lab continues to generate knowledge that extends beyond a single project, helping shape better workplace environments and building services across the industry.
Footprint+: Demonstrating the Impact of Innovation
The Living Lab was never intended to be a finished project. It was designed as a platform for experimentation, learning and continuous improvement.
Listen as Rebecca Stewart and Davor Stojnic explore how the Living Lab is helping bridge the gap between design intent and operational performance.
Explore our other projects where our air conditioning solutions have been used to lower carbon use and create comfort.
This product is protected by the following patents and other pending patent applications:
The Trademark ‘Artus’ is registered as GB 3220151.
The following designs are registered: GB 6350052 to GB 6350063 and EM 15052307-0001 to 0012
