![]() ![]() The scheme offers a highly efficient and flexible plan allowing for single and multiple tenancies.īetween the project being commissioned in 1987 and the final completion of the building in 2005, the project underwent a number of design permutations, responding to new market conditions and developments in building technology. It allows daylight to enter deep into the floorplate and provides dramatic views of the Tower and City of London beyond. The building is eight storeys high and is arranged around the central atrium, a dynamic, full-height space clearly visible from outside the building. There is a second entrance at Quay Level: opposite the subway leading from Tower Hill underground station. The building is entered at pavement level, leading to a central atrium. A recessed colonnade encourages public movement into the dockside area, while a public piazza provides shops and restaurants which enliven the public space along the waterfront. The site organisation reinforces the lower level public realm. ![]() The building sits on the edge of the dock wall and forms part of the enclosure of the dock basin, in the same position as the Old Telford warehouses which once occupied the site. Occupying a prominent site adjacent to the Tower of London, the new building is an important marker at the junction of East Smithfield and Tower Bridge Approach. A new public piazza with retail areas and cafés looks out over the dock basin itself. A new recessed colonnade encourages public movement past the building and on into the new development, enlivening the public space around the docks. The scheme reinforces the lower-level public realm, linking public access from Tower Hill tube station to St Katharine’s Dock. ![]() The long north and south elevations of the building are strongly articulated to create a sense of depth and layering – on the south (dock) side extensive use of solar shading gives it an appropriately solid look. A prominent tower marks the gateway to St Katharine’s Dock and Tower Bridge. This all-glass façade reveals the activities within, and is animated by the constantly moving lifts and escalators. The scheme features a giant ‘window’ facing west to the Tower of London. The project demonstrates the practice’s ability to draw on the lessons of Lloyd’s of London, adapting them to the requirement of the commercial market. The commission for Tower Bridge House dates back to 1987, just after the completion of Lloyd’s of London. ![]()
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