The Challenge
Shopping centres are under pressure to cut electricity costs, improve sustainability ratings, and reduce reliance on the grid, but the real challenge is doing it without disrupting trade. For St Ives Shopping Village, we needed to deliver a commercial rooftop solar installation in a live operating environment with busy customer traffic, tenant deliveries, strict centre access requirements, and limited windows for high-risk activities. Like any active retail asset, the priorities were clear: keep tenants trading, protect customer safety, manage noise and access, avoid downtime, and maintain a clean, controlled site at all times. The project demanded careful staging, clear communication with centre management, and tight safety controls so the solar system could be installed efficiently while the shopping centre continued operating as normal.
The Solution
We delivered the St Ives Shopping Village rooftop solar project using a staged, centre-first delivery approach designed to keep the shopping centre trading as normal. Our team planned and sequenced works around centre operations, tenant access, deliveries, and customer traffic, with strict safety controls including exclusion zones, working-at-heights systems, and controlled lifting activities to maintain a safe environment at all times.
A key part of the delivery was working closely with Building Services Engineers (BSE) to integrate the solar PV system into the site’s upgraded Main Switchboard (MSB). This ensured the electrical design, connection methodology, and commissioning process aligned with the broader site upgrade works and protected overall site continuity.
To minimise disruption and avoid operational downtime, we coordinated high-risk electrical works around after-hours shutdown windows. We also completed core hole drilling into the switchroom with strict dust containment and cleanliness controls to prevent any debris entering the live electrical environment. The result was a safe, low-disruption commercial solar installation that improved energy performance while protecting tenant operations, customer experience, and day-to-day centre activity.
