Hasta La Ideas

These new shots by London photographer Rory Gardiner show the tapered form of The Leadenhall Building by Rogers Stirk Harbour + Partners, which is nearing completion in the City of London (+ slideshow).

Nicknamed “the cheesegrater”, the 224-metre office tower was designed by Richard Rogers’ firm for a site beside the architect’s celebrated Lloyds Building and features one sloping facade to maintain views towards St Paul’s Cathedral.

The exterior of the 50-structure is expressed as a series of constituent parts. A glazed curtain wall sits over the criss-crossing steel grid fronting the office floors, while a ladder frame encases the fire-fighting cores, and a circulation tower runs up the northern side of the building.

Scheduled for completion later this year, The Leadenhall will house offices in its upper levels, but the base will accommodate a seven-storey-high public space filled with shops and restaurants.

Photography is by Rory Gardiner.

Here’s a description of the building from Rogers Stirk Harbour + Partners:

The Leadenhall Building

The building comprises a number of distinct architectural elements that provide clarity to the composition both as a whole and as a legible expression of its constituent parts. These elements include the primary stability structure, the ladder frame, the office floor plates, the northern support core, the external envelope and the public realm.

The structure aims to reinforce the geometry defined by the development envelope, which in turn creates the distinctive tapering form, and takes the form of a perimeter braced ‘tube’ that defines the extent of the floor plates. The ladder frame contributes to the vertical emphasis of the building, and encloses the fire-fighting cores that serve the office floors. The frame also visually anchors the building to the ground.

The office floors take the form of simple rectangular floor plates which progressively diminish in depth by 750 millimetres towards the apex. Office floors are connected to the structural ‘tube’ at every floor level without the need for secondary vertical columns at the perimeter.

The northern support core is conceived as a detached tower containing all passenger and goods lifts, service risers, on-floor plant and WCs. Three groups of passenger lifts serve the low, mid and high rise sections of the building, and are connected by two transfer lobbies at levels ten and 24.

The position of the northern support core relative to the office areas means that the structure is not required to be over-clad with fire protection, allowing the whole to be designed and expressed as visible steelwork. This articulated steel frame provides clarity to the whole assemblage.

The highly transparent glazed enclosure makes manifest the structure and movement systems within; its physical presence is a striking and dynamic addition to the City and a unique spectacle for the enjoyment for passers-by.

The building is designed to express all the constituent elements behind a single glazed envelope. Facades to the office areas require the highest comfort criteria in relation to heat loss, daylight, glare control and solar gain. Here, the facade is supplemented with an internal layer of double-glazing, forming a cavity which incorporates the structural frame.

The external glazing incorporates vents at node levels to allow outside air to enter and discharge from the cavity. Controlled blinds in the cavity automatically adjust to limit unwanted solar gain and glare.

The lower levels of the building are recessed on a raking diagonal to create a large public space that opens up to the south. The spectacular scale of the semi-enclosed, cathedral-like space is without precedent in London and will create a major new meeting place and a unique destination in itself.

Overlooking the space are generous terrace areas within a bar and restaurant that provide animation and views into the public space and beyond. This enclosure is open at ground level to give access from all directions. The public space is fully accessible by means of a large, gently raked surface connecting St Helen’s Square with Leadenhall Street.

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Building nearing completion appeared first on Dezeen.

News: London firm Rogers Stirk Harbour + Partners has unveiled designs for a major new football stadium in Caracas, Venezuela.

The Estadio Nacional de Fútbol de Venezuela will be the first football stadium designed by Rogers Stirk Harbour + Partners.

Developed in collaboration with engineers Arup and Schlaich Bergermann und Partner, it will feature a brightly coloured circular roof that the architects refer to as a “bicycle wheel canopy”.

The building will be located at the top of a hill, overlooking the city centre to the north east.

“The hillside site created an unusual challenge and the design reflects this with terraces cut into the landscape giving way to a series of floating esplanades that provide access to the various levels of stadium,” said Simon Smithson, the lead architect on the project.

The stadium forms part of a wider masterplan by Richard Rogers’ firm for the area known as La Rinconada, located approximately eight kilometres south west of the capital.

The architects had originally been commissioned to design a bus station replacing an existing facility, but the project later evolved to encompass a new transport interchange between the bus station and the existing metro and train station, as well as the establishment of a metropolitan park to protect the surrounding hillsides from further development.

The football stadium will be located within the park alongside a new baseball stadium, while an existing racecourse designed by Californian architect Arthur Froehlich in the 1950s will be retained.

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+ Partners planned for Venezuela appeared first on Dezeen.

News: Rogers Stirk Harbour + Partners has won a competition to design a new centre for social sciences at the London School of Economics.

The London firm founded by architect Richard Rogers saw off competition from four other offices including OMA and Hopkins Architects to win the £90 million project at the London School of Economics (LSE) campus in Bloomsbury.

“Each of the five proposals gave us pause for thought with innovative design responses,” commented LSE director of estates Julian Robinson, who was on the judging panel. “We intend this to be a seminal piece of university architecture so it was important we took time to get the decision right.”

The brief for the Global Centre for Social Sciences (GCSS) includes the demolition and redevelopment of several existing buildings on Houghton Street and Clare Market. Unlike the other entries, Rogers Stirk Harbour + Partners proposes adding a new public square in the heart of the campus.

“[Rogers Stirk Harbour + Partners] have designed beautiful, dynamic buildings around the world and they offered an elegant, thoughtful submission to this competition,” said LSE director and fellow judge Craig Calhoun. “[They] grasped that this would be a building at once for the university and for the city, an enhancement to public as well as academic space.”

LSE staff and students were given an opportunity to vote for their favourite proposal in a public exhibition and the same scheme came out top by “an overwhelming margin”.

“We look forward to an open dialogue with the school, so that together we can create the best environment possible for the university and its students,” added architect Ivan Harbour. “Our new addition to the campus will enrich the urban context and reflect the essence of the LSE.”

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building for London School of Economics appeared first on Dezeen.

News: a residential development designed by Richard Rogers to adjoin two streets in London’s Mayfair via a paved arcade has been granted approval.

The £300 million scheme designed by Rogers Stirk Harbour + Partners will include 42 apartments, a restaurant and retail space. There will also be 1248 square metres of dedicated gallery space, split into five retail units for the selling of art and antiques – for which Cork Street and the surrounding area are well-known.

The conversion will transform a former office building into a nine-storey mixed-use property and will link Old Burlington Street and Cork Street via a double-height arcade, making it the first of its kind in Mayfair since the 1930s.

Alasdair Nicholls, chief executive of property developer Native Land said: “These proposals will greatly enhance Cork Street and the experience of visiting one of London’s most established art gallery districts, by both augmenting the gallery offering of the building and creating an arcade with a permanent dedicated space for young and emerging artists.”

The scheme has faced opposition from gallery owners, locals and retail experts who felt that the development and expected higher rental costs would negatively affect the area which is well known for its small galleries.

A campaign website called Save Cork Street was set up and a number of public events were held in an attempt to protect the heritage of the street. A petition against the plans was signed by 12,000 people, including retail guru Mary Portas.

Recently we published a number of films with eminent British architect Richard Rogers. In our most recent movie, Richard Rogers reflects on his 50-year career and told Dezeen that architects today must be careful to protect the public domain.

In another movie exclusive Rogers spoke to us about London’s new Leadenhall building, dubbed “the Cheesegrater”, which is currently under construction.

See all our coverage of Richard Rogers »
See more stories about Rogers Stirk Harbour + Partners »

Images are from Rogers Stirk Habour + Partners.

Here’s more information from Native Land:

Westminster City Council approves Native Land’s plans for 30 Old Burlington Street

Consent granted for apartment and gallery space in Mayfair

Native Land has secured planning approval from Westminster City Council for the redevelopment of 30 Old Burlington Street, Mayfair. Westminster’s Planning & City Development Committee last night agreed to the plans for new residential and enhanced gallery provision at the W1 address.

Native Land applied to redevelop the Old Burlington Street office building, creating 42 apartments, a restaurant, retail space, and 1,248 sq m of gallery space in five units dedicated to the sale of art and antiques, as part of the restriction in the Section 106 agreement.

The proposed development, designed by Rogers Stirk Harbour + Partners, will replace the existing 1980s office block and will link Old Burlington Street and Cork Street via a newly built double height arcade, which is the first in Mayfair since the 1930s.

The new development will consist of nine floors, with 42 one, two and three bedroom apartments spread over floors 1 – 8. The ground floor will accommodate the new arcade, which is expected to increase gallery visitors and footfall within the area.

Alasdair Nicholls, Chief Executive of Native Land, said:

“We welcome Westminster City Council decision to approve our plans for 30 Old Burlington Street. These proposals will greatly enhance Cork Street and the experience of visiting one of London’s most established art gallery districts, by both augmenting the gallery offering of the building and creating an arcade with a permanent dedicated space for young and emerging artists. The combination of art galleries, purpose built residential and a contemporary arcade is unique, with appeal both to domestic and international buyers alike looking to live in Mayfair.”

Native Land, the Mayfair-based development company, is managing the development, after acquiring the site freehold in August 2012 in a joint venture with Hotel Properties Limited (HPL), the Singaporean hotel, property and retail group, and Amcorp Properties Berhad (Amcorp), the Malaysian property, engineering and infrastructure group.

In December 2012 Native Land secured funding for the development via a £90 million debt facility from OCBC Bank of Singapore.

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+ Partners gallery arcade in Mayfair appeared first on Dezeen.

In our next movie focussing on key projects by Richard Rogers, the British architect talks exclusively to Dezeen about his radical Lloyd’s building in London and explains why he is not completely comfortable with the “high-tech” label that is often applied to his work.

Completed in 1986 for insurance company Lloyd’s of London, Lloyd’s building comprises three main towers, each with an accompanying service tower, which surround a central rectangular atrium housing the main trading floor.

Often cited as a pioneering example of high-tech architecture, Lloyd’s building was considered radical because, like Rogers‘ preceding Centre Pompidou in Paris, all of its services, including staircases, lifts and water pipes, are on display on the outside of the building.

“We were able to convince Lloyd’s that we would put the mechanical services on the outside because mechanical services have a short life,” Rogers explains.

As with the Centre Pompidou, the idea was to make the central spaces as open and flexible as possible. “[We] kept the floors clear because Lloyd’s said they wanted two things,” Rogers says.

“They wanted a building that would last into the next century – we met that one – and they wanted a building that could meet their changing needs.”

However, Rogers says that he does not completely agree with the use of the term “high-tech” to describe the building.

“I have no great love for high-tech,” he says. “One would like to think one uses the appropriate materials, but of course appropriate materials are shaped by the time you live in. So we use the technology of today – and the technology of yesterday where appropriate – to build the buildings of today.”

He continues: “We thought Lloyd’s was the absolute ultimate in the art of technology. When I look at it now, it’s practically hand made. People say, ‘well, it’s technology and therefore it’s a high-tech building.’ It’s a bit too easy.”

A 200 year-old City of London institution at the time, Lloyd’s seemed an unlikely client for such a bold building.

“It was very traditional,” Rogers says. “The only bit of technology when we went to see the [previous] Lloyd’s building inside was a Xerox machine and some people were still writing with feathers and ink.”

However, Rogers says that the company was actually very forward-looking. “It was backwards only in the process,” he says. “Of course, it was the most famous insurance firm in the world and obviously contained a very cutting-edge element within that.”

He continues: “We were again extremely fortunate, in the same way as we were with the Pompidou. The real critical thing in architecture is having a good client. A good client is not somebody who just says ‘yes’, it’s a client that is engaged in the evolution of the building, who responds.”

While Rogers worked closely with Lloyd’s on the functional aspects of the building, he says he had more freedom over the aesthetics. “We were dealing with people who knew about change, knew about risk, but hadn’t a clue about art,” he explains. “The ducts, the pieces on the outside, allowed us to play a game with light and shadow.”

Despite enjoying a productive relationship with Lloyd’s initially, there were still challenges to overcome to get the building built.

“A year before the end of building, there was an investigation by the Bank of England into Lloyd’s and the chairman and everyone had to resign,” Rogers says. “The next chairman hated us, so we had a very tough last year.”

Rogers says that the general reaction to the building once it was completed was also hostile, although opinion changed over time. Lloyd’s building was Grade I listed in 2011, just 25 years after it was built, and Rogers sees parallels between it and Christopher Wren’s iconic St Paul’s Cathedral.

“Wren was in his seventies when he at last got St Paul’s built,” he says, recounting a story that the dean of St Paul’s Cathedral told him at the opening of Lloyd’s building. “He’d started thirty years beforehand and was so tired of having his building attacked and turned down, by the time he got to building it he put a twenty foot fence all around the site so that nobody could see it.”

“So even St Paul’s was a shock of the new. We think its been there forever – certainly Prince Charles thinks it has been there forever – but it hasn’t. It was a risky building to build in those times, which is why it is great.”

Rogers was speaking to Dezeen to mark the opening of an exhibition called Richard Rogers RA: Inside Out at the Royal Academy of Arts in London.

Watch our previous interview with Rogers about the exhibition »
See our earlier story about the exhibition »

The London home designed by Rogers for his parents, and which influenced his later design for the Pompidou Centre, was recently put on the market for the first time since it was built in 1968.

Read the full story about Rogers House »
See all our stories about Richard Rogers »

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in technology, but it’s practically hand made” appeared first on Dezeen.