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Green-roofed Fletcher Priest Architects’ 6 Bevis Marks starts on site in London
A 16-storey office building next to Foster + Partners' St Mary Axe (The Gherkin) in London has started on site this week. Designed by Fletcher Priest Architects for AXA Real Estate, MGPA, EUROHYPO and CORE, the new 234,200 sq ft office will be a distinctive addition to the City, and its dramatic ETFE covered roof garden will enliven the surrounding roofscape.
The new building replaces a 1980’s office that over-sailed the pavement to form a dark colonnade that isolated the building from the street. Despite being double the floor area of the previous block, the new development reconnects the site to the neighbourhood. Fletcher Priest’s design sets the building back to align with adjacent property, enhances pedestrian routes through and around the site and creates an attractive public space from what was previously a service area.
Fletcher Priest have used an ETFE floating roof structure to create an all-weather open air roof garden for the enjoyment of the occupants, who can take the lift to the landscaped space and enjoy the spectacular views. Over 10,000 sq ft of roof gardens aim to give the scheme a unique character yet fit in with its architecturally distinctive neighbours that overlook the roof.
The new structure is 80% more energy efficient than the building it replaces. It also reuses over 50% of the original structural mass that is part of an extensive sustainability agenda that shortens the construction programme, and helps avoid risks in the ground.
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