Less is more.projects 14

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1 Less is more Projects 14 Created 30-Jan-16 By Jesper Bo Jensen, Copenhagen, Denmark Salvation Army International Headquarters 33 Holborn Allies & Morrison Studio Design Museum 1-10 Bishop's Square 5 Aviva Tower London, GMW British Film Institute IMAX 10 Centre Point 11 1 Kemble Street 12 London, Richard Seifert 6 Office for Weston Williamson 13 London, Weston Williamson s 7 London, Foster & Partners, retail, square 9 London, Richard Seifert London, Conran & Partners cafe, museum, shop 4 London, Allies and Morrison The Economist London, Avery Associates cinema London, Foster & Partners, recording studio 3 London, Foster & Partners ITN Headquarters London, Alison + Peter Smithson London, Sheppard Robson cafe, chapel, Tower Bridge Road 14 London, MPA s housing, 8 Credit Suisse First Boston 15 London, Pei Cobb Freed & Partners 1

2 Salvation Army International Headquarters Queen Victoria Street 101 EC4V 4EH London The Salvation Army was founded by William Booth in 1878 in the East End of London and has been based in the city ever since At the turn of the millennium, the Army's old headquarters, located on this same site, had become too big for them Realizing that they only needed a third of the space, they decided to redevelop Rentable space was constructed on two thirds of the site, which paid for a new headquarters on the remainder and most prominent portion of the plot The top three floors are given to administrative functions, whilst the lower three are for the public A chapel is located immediately above the entrance Glass is used extensively, in order to provide transparency and a feeling of openness Through the glass one can see the raked concrete legs that support the upper floors - a little dramatic touch that helps to lift the building Project is public! m² Sheppard Robson The Salvation Army The nearest tube stations are Blackfriars or Mansion House (District and Circle lines) or St Paul's (Central Line) The actual entrance is on Peter's Hill which leads from St Paul's Cathedral to the Millennium Bridge 2

3 33 Holborn Holborn 33 EC1N 2HT London 33 Holborn is quadrant-shaped in plan, with the principal façade sweeping round from Holborn into New Fetter Lane On the face of it the scheme is perhaps not one of the most inspiring to come from Foster's (it does not even get mentioned on the web site), but the broad curving façade and highly competent execution does help to lift it above the ordinary The programme is comprised of two wings On the East side of the plan (running North-South) is a fairly regular series of floor plates, whilst on the South side, the floors are triangular Separating both sets of space, is an irregular 'wedge'-shaped atrium Externally, the main material is curtain walling This is used extensively on the main, curved, façade with the lower level protected by reconstituted stone louvers On the other elevations, the louvers are used more frequently Escape stairs form a feature at the rear corners 2002 Foster & Partners Nearest tube station is Chancery Lane (Central Line) 3

4 ITN Headquarters Gray's Inn Road 200 WC1X 8XZ London ITN (Independent Television News) was established to provide news services for the commercial television channels in the UK The interior can frequently be seen in the background of news programmes on channels 3, 4 & 5 The space is divided into two blocks A smaller one facing the street, with a larger (or deeper floor plate unit) at the rear Separating the two is a tapering atrium, which deals with the fact that the street line is not perpendicular to the sides, nor parallel to the rear building line The atrium is glazed on the roof and at the ends, giving the space a pleasant luminous quality The upper floors step back to respect the heights of the neighbouring buildings At the rear, two service towers punch through the space, helping to modulate the rear elevation Along Gray's Inn Road, the ground and first floor are set back to provide a double height entrance loggia Two basement levels contain further space and Studios 1990 Contractor Building costs consultant Structural engineer Services engineer Acoustics consultant Foster & Partners Bovis Construction Davis Langdon & Everest Ove Arup and Partners Roger Preston & Partners Sandy Brown Associates Independent Television News The nearest tube stations are Russell Square (Piccadilly Line) and Chancery Lane (Central Line) 4

5 Allies & Morrison Studio Southwark Road 85 SE1 0HX London Allies & Morrison's studio is located on Southwark Road, just behind Tate Modern On the ground floor is a cafe where staff can eat lunch and is also open to the public This also acts as a shopwindow for the architectural models that the practice produces Above this are three studio floors A project starts its life being designed on the third floor, dropping down one level for working drawing production and then down to first floor whilst on site The top (fourth) floor features a conference room which also gives access to a roof terrace The basement houses a model shop, product literature and samples libraries and print facilities The building is constructed from in-situ concrete which is left exposed internally The street façade is almost totally glazed, allowing views in at night In summer, yellow coloured shutters behind the glass help to control glare and heat gain The studio usually takes part in London Open House See wwwlondonopenhouseorg for details Project is public! m² Building costs consultant Structural engineer Allies and Morrison Davis Langdon & Everest Ramboll Whitby Bird Allies & Morrison The nearest tube station is Southwark (Jubilee Line) 5

6 Design Museum Shad Thames 28 SE1 2YD London The Design Museum is based in a converted 1950s brick clad warehouse The ground floor features the entrance and ticket hall together with a shop and a small café - both overlooking the Thames On the first floor is a restaurant - also looking out onto the river Here one also finds the first exhibition floor, with the second on the next level up Unusually, both exhibition floors bridge over Shad Thames, which continues underneath Externally, the building is finished in render, which gives it something of a feeling of the Bauhaus Project is public! 1989 Conran & Partners Daily: / Closed December 25 & 26 The nearest tube stations are: London Bridge (Northern & Jubilee Lines and Surface rail), Tower Hill (District & Circle lines) and Tower Gateway (Docklands Light Railway) Buses: 42, 47, 78, 188 & 381 to Tooley Street 100 to Tower Gateway 225 to Jamaica Road RV1 to Tower Bridge 6

7 1-10 Bishop's Square Bishop's Square 1 E1 6EG London This development sits on the site of the annexe to the old Spitalfields Market The original two-storey market buildings along Brushfield Street have been retained, with some incorporated into this scheme, along with the listed Horner Market building, to the east The latter is linked to this project by a covered lightweight canopy The accommodation is housed in four simple parallel rectangular volumes of 6, 10, 13 and 8 floors respectively, with the lowest block closest to Brushfield Street The lowest block also links to the original buildings by means of a publicly accessible covered street, lined with shops The main blocks of accommodation are linked together with three separate glazed atria and three of the blocks also have roof gardens for staff amenity The remains of a 12th-century chapel, discovered on the site, have been set on permanent display Other ancient artifacts discovered in the area are also on view in showcases around the development Project is public! m² Contractor Foster & Partners Sir Robert McAlpine Hammerson PLC The shops are open to the public during normal shopping hours, but the s are not The nearest tube and surface rail station is Liverpool Street (Central, Circle, Metropolitan and Hammersmith & City Lines) 7

8 Aviva Tower Undershaft 1 EC3A 8EE London This building has been known by many names: The Commercial Union Tower, Aviva Building, the St Helen's Building and at the time of writing, it was known as the Aviva Tower It was originally one of two structures sharing the same piazza, but the other building - the adjacent P&O building to the south west - has since been demolished Completed in 1969, it was the first building in London, at 118m and 28 floors, to exceed the height of St Paul's Cathedral It was totally reclad following the detonation of a terrorist bomb across the road in 1993, but the influence of Mies' Seagram Building is still evident in the detailing of the envelope All the floors are suspended off the central concrete core in two groups of 12, via perimeter hangers to produce a column free interior, with the suspension structure occupying the central and upper plant zones m² Contractor GMW Taylor Woodrow Construction Commercial Union Assurance Company The nearest tube station is Liverpool Street (Fare Zone 1) served by the Central, Circle, Metropolitan and Hammersmith & City Lines 8

9 photo: Nazar Leskiw photo: Nazar Leskiw The Economist St James's Street 25 SW1A 1HA London In 1959, the Smithsons were commissioned to design a new headquarters for The Economist magazine in Piccadilly Inspired by the narrow lanes and courts of the old City of London, they created an elegantly spacious pedestrian plaza as a trio of finely detailed towers, each built on a different scale, clad in traditional Portland stone The interiors were based on their lengthy research into the working practices of The Economist journalists At the opening the editor Sir Geoffrey Crowther said that the staff had felt 'trepidation' on first meeting the Smithsons but took 'leave of them now with awe and affection' The success of The Economist project secured a commission for the new British Embassy in Brasilia Alison and Peter produced their design after conducting yet more rigorous research - this time into how the embassy's staff worked One senior diplomat described their scheme as an 'embassy of great beauty and certainly the most efficient embassy building ever conceived' photo: Nazar Leskiw Public access unknown! 1964 Alison + Peter Smithson arquitectosvo 9

10 photo: Avery Associates s photo: Avery Associates s British Film Institute IMAX Charlie Chaplin Walk 1 SE1 8XR London The BFI London IMAX was designed by Bryan Avery of Avery Associates sand completed in May 1999 The screen is the largest in Britain (20m high and 26m wide) It has a seating capacity of just under 500 and a 12,000 Watt digital surround sound system Although the site is surrounded by traffic and has an underground line just four metres below, the architects and engineers accounted for this in their design and the entire upper structure sits on anti vibration bearings to prevent noise transference photo: Nazar Leskiw Project is public! 1999 Avery Associates Nazar 10

11 Centre Point St Giles High Street WC2H 8LN London Since its completion in 1966, Centre Point has attracted controversy Its developer, Harry Hyams, negotiated an agreement with the local authority to build higher than local regulations then permitted in return for a road improvement scheme around the base However the biggest uproar concerned the fact that it remained empty for many years Hyams stated that he only wanted a single tenant and the manner in which the development had been financed allowed him the freedom to wait for the right deal to be struck Around this time the number of homeless people in London was rapidly increasing and this prominent, yet empty, structure came to be perceived as a symbol of greed within the property industry and in 1974 homeless protesters staged a brief demonstration within the the building In 1995, the 117m high tower was listed Grade II and in 2003 it was heavily refurbished by Gaunt Francis s At the time of writing there are plans to convert it to residential use m² Associate architect Structural engineer Contractor Richard Seifert Gaunt Francis s Pell Frischmann Group Wimpey Construction Limited Oldham Estates The closest tube station is Tottenham Court Road served by the Northern Line (Charing Cross Branch) and the Central Line The station is in Fare Zone

12 1 Kemble Street Kemble Street 1 WC2B 4AN London At 16 storeys high, 1 Kemble Street - originally known as Space House - is the less well known sibling of Centre Point In fact it could be said to be a smaller, circular version of that (in)famous building Although their forms differ, they share many similarities: Both were designed by Richard Seifert for Harry Hyams' Oldham Estates around the same time They use similar construction techniques and materials with the same externally expressed angular precast concrete structure The architect was well known for his knowledge of planning legislation and his ability to exploit loopholes in the law to allow the client to build taller and/or increase the plot ratio Rumour has it that Space House was originally designed as a luxury hotel and was intended to be twice as high However this is one time when the planners thwarted him A discrete bridge links the project to a smaller, plainer slab block fronting Kingsway Sturgis Associates were the architects for a refurbishment in m² Associate architect Richard Seifert Sturgis Associates Oldham Estates The nearest tube stations are Covent Garden (Piccadilly Line) and Holborn (Piccadilly & Central Lines) Both stations are in Fare Zone

13 Office for Weston Williamson Tanner Street 43 SE1 3PL London In 2001, Weston Williamson s completed this compact building for their own use The corner site has a trapezium shaped footprint and lies at the southern end of a range of listed buildings on Tower Bridge Road Due to the small footprint there is little in the way of internal sub-division Accommodation is spread over five levels with the upper floor set back 36m to help maintain the cornice line of the older neighbouring property Initially it may seem strange to locate the stair and toilet core on the south corner, but this does have the benefit of restricting insolation of the main spaces, which is further controlled by external roller blinds These run in tracks located on either side of the vertical banks of louvers on the main facade, which in turn provide fresh air to the interior m² Weston Williamson s Weston Williamson s The nearest tube stations are London Bridge and Borough both in fare zone 1 (Northern Line City/Bank branch) From London Bridge take the Tooley Street exit and turn right onto Tooley Street Walk along Tooley Street for 500m then turn right into Tower Bridge Road and the project is on the far side of the rialway viaduct Alternatively leave Borough Station and cross over the road into Great Dover Street then cross over to Long Lane After 500m turn left into Tower Bridge Road 13

14 200 Tower Bridge Road Tower Bridge Road 200 SE1 2UN London This project, sitting on the corner of Tower Bridge Road and Queen Elizabeth Street, is a conversion of a small Richard Seifert building that had become under utilised It houses the headquarters of United Designers on the lower floors, with apartments on the upper levels which are accessed from a separate entrance in Queen Elizabeth Street The front elevation is probably the most interesting part of the composition and it bears something of a resemblance to Weston Williamson's located further south at the junction of Tanner Street with Tower Bridge Road At the top of the building are two floors which are slightly set back to allow a cornice line to match that of the neighbouring Pommeler's Rest pub A handsome, modest and unassuming development that is by no means a striking building, but is, nevertheless, worth more than just a passing look m² Main designer, Interior architect Services engineer Building costs consultant Structural engineer Contractor MPA s United Designers Carnell Warren Associates Michael Parter Associates Ramboll Whitby Bird United Construction The two closest tube stations are London Bridge served by the Northern Line (City/Bank branch) and the Jubilee Line and Tower Hill served by the Circle and District Lines, along with the Docklands Light Railway 14

15 photo: Nazar Leskiw Credit Suisse First Boston Cabot Square 1 E14 4QJ London Credit Suisse First Boston is located on Canary Wharf, the world's largest commercial development, which was undertaken to provide London's financial market with large, technologically advanced facilities virtually on the doorstep of the historic city The master plan for the 71-acre site encompasses ten million square feet of space, together with hotels, conference and banqueting support, retail, restaurants, pubs, landscaped public spaces, leisure facilities, and parking The complex is served by an internal roadway and greatly improved rail, road and water links to central London Faceted walls and generously sized windows increase outdoor awareness and help to bring natural light deep inside, while making direct response to the building's strategic location at the gateway to Canary Wharf, along a central tree-lined boulevard photo: Nazar Leskiw 1991 Pei Cobb Freed & Partners Nazar 15