KPF designed office completes in Gresham Street
Kohn Pedersen Fox-designed 20 Gresham Street has completed marking a close to the significant transformation of the West end of Gresham Street over the past few years.
Located diagonally opposite the City of London’s Guildhall entrance at the corner of Milk
Street, the building reveals its true complexity when approached from the
Bank of England at the Eastern end of Gresham Street. The Milk
Street/Gresham Street corner is highly visible, due to the geography of
the street and the placement of neighbouring buildings. It has a
distinctive colouration and its form is curvilinear at roof level. The
building marks this important corner by extending the roof form to the
ground and gradually sets back over the full height of the curved
facade.
The vertical roof facade extends along Gresham Street at ground and
first floor level forming the entrance lobby facade. Two revolving doors
are placed on the apex of the corner. They are designed to mark the
transition from a bustling city street into a calm, ordered world by
introducing a degree of solidity that frames the view into the entrance
and reveals back painted burgundy coloured glass panels that are
repeated on a journey through the building. Once inside, a double
height cathedral like entrance space lined with a sculpted travertine
wall and a monumental reception desk creates an environment that is
more reminiscent of an art gallery than an office lobby.
From the entrance area, the vertical circulation elements; escalators to
the first floor and the lift lobby, act to orientate and allow access to the
dealer floors at first and second floor levels and the office floors above.
Upon entering the first and second floors, the benefits of the external
pre-cast composite columns that form part of the external elevation are
evident. The 30,000 sq ft floor plates have only seven internal columns
and 18m spans, this accentuates the sense of unimpeded space and
allows for greater degrees of flexibility in the types of space generated
as well as creating the potential for multi-tenancy occupation.
The atrium is located behind the central core and extends from the
third floor to the roof. Its balconies animate the space and the base can
be occupied as office space.
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