30 Grosvenor Square

The 30 Grosvenor Square development honours the heritage of the iconic former American Embassy building, retaining the original external façade and incorporating a new hotel, retail, and event space within. Situated in the heart of Mayfair’s conservation area in the City of Westminster, the 46,342m2 project also features significant public realm improvements.

Designed by David Chipperfield Architects, The Chancery Rosewood Hotel at 30 Grosvenor Square revives this iconic central London building, the former American Embassy and the only UK project of architect Eero Saarinen. The new design restores the relationship between structure and location, creating an inner-city destination which boasts five restaurants, six flagship retail units, 139 luxury hotel rooms, a spa, and a ballroom with a capacity for 1,000 guests.

The project required a fully managed WiFi network providing high-density coverage across the site throughout the construction phase. 

Solution

Leading global construction company, Multiplex needed site-wide WiFi coverage throughout the entire site, spanning the 5 basement levels and 7 floors above ground; a total coverage area of 46,342m2.

In the early planning stages, Simpli-Fi carried out desktop surveys to provide predictive coverage heat maps and show AP quantities and signal strength. 

Detailed cabling schematics were required as part of the design to show cable routes, comms cabinet locations and the fibre backbone network. Cabling and equipment within live construction sites are far more susceptible to damage, and therefore, our design needed to demonstrate as much network resilience as possible.

Simpli-Fi installed a network infrastructure across the site consisting of the following:

• Incoming Internet connectivity and backup
• Diverse fibre backbone serving the edge comms racks
• Horizontal armoured Cat 6 cabling
• A Ruckus wireless network and switching
• A fully managed service, including support for the duration of the 3-year project

In total, 68 high-density Ruckus access points have been installed with the network infrastructure across all building levels to support the wireless network. 

Challenges

Typical construction site challenges include a constantly evolving building, meaning we have to be able to adapt the network to keep the wireless signal strength consistent as the project evolves. This means we need to monitor the network in real-time to check coverage and signal strengths and make adjustments to AP placements and structured cabling throughout the project. 

The nature of a live construction site means cables and equipment can get damaged, so the Simpli-Fi team must react quickly and efficiently to rectify any network issues.