CIBSE | HEAD OFFICE RELOCATION From left to right: CIBSE President Kevin Mitchell, chief executive officer Ruth Carter and CIBSE President-elect Adrian Catchpole LONDON CALLING CIBSE has announced it is seeking to leave Balham and buy a new head office in central London. Alex Smith finds out how the Institution intends to harness Members skills and experience to create an exemplar retrofit that will inspire others on the path to net zero C IBSE is on the move. After 44 years in Balham, the Institution is looking to leave Londons Zone 3 for a new head office close to the city centre. Years of discussion over potential locations have concluded, and CIBSE has decided to sell the Balham site and move to a new office. Chief executive Ruth Carter says Members she has spoken to have been positive about the potential move. When Members visit Balham, they look at it with affection and give a wry smile but while they may reminisce about their interviews, their reaction is great, when are you going, she says. The CIBSE Board did consider redeveloping the existing site, but the cost of turning it into a modern, sustainable facility would have been prohibitive and left the Institution with a seven-figure overdraft, says Carter. 18 February 2023 www.cibsejournal.com President Kevin Mitchell says talks about leaving Balham have been going on since he joined the Board six years ago. Every time weve had those discussions, everyone agrees that what we currently have doesnt meet the Institutions aspirations, he says. It doesnt really represent what CIBSE is and what it wants to be. Every time we have stepped through how to develop the existing site into something we all feel proud of, we come up with many challenges in terms of practicality, programme and price. Of course, being good engineers, we solve these challenges and end up with a solution but then we always come back to the question: is Balham really right for us? Is this the right location? Carter is more direct: We looked at what we needed as a world-class, world-leading institution. We wanted somewhere that was flexible, and where people want to work. The answer isnt Balham. To oversee the move, CIBSE has set up a Premises Advisory Committee (PAC), chaired by Paddy Conaghan FCIBSE (see panel). Sub-groups will look at different aspects of the project, such as building performance and finance, and represent CIBSEs regions, Societies and groups. There are clever and smart people at CIBSE, so lets use them, says Carter.