Project: Senator House
Architecture: Ben Adams Architects
Project team: Ben Adams, Francesca Pont, Nicholas Jewell, Mark Conroy, Patrick Hammond, Bryan Tsang, Yuho Sakai
Client: Legal & General
Location: City of London
Area: 192,566 sqf
Budget: £22m
Text and photos: Courtesy of Ben Adams Architects
Senator House occupies a central location within the City of London, between the River Thames and St Paul’s Cathedral, long associated with the trading and financial services.
Our extension and refurbishment of the tired 1980s office block was designed to meet the needs of the modern worker with high quality, flexible office space and new communal amenities, including generous bike storage facilities.
We considered the way in which the building was approached, maximising opportunities to extend its assets. A new public garden on Queen Victoria Street provides a visual link to nearby Cleary Gardens and creates a more generous entry sequence for workers and public alike. The existing façade was overclad with a sleek, black granite and bronze to give Senator House a bold and contemporary rebrand, with minimal disruption for existing building users.
A new elegant entrance space has been created with marble wall panels and terrazzo floor which can accommodate high footfall at peak traffic times but which also contains restful waiting areas and private work booths. A large, low reception area is opened up and lightened, linking the entrance sequence with the building’s central atrium. Interiors feature warm pink hues and are accented by Scandinavian touches such as timber and bronze fins. Absorbent wall panels create a softer and more ambient acoustic environment.
The rooftop had originally been taken up with plant and services, but given its position within the St Paul’s viewing corridor, had amazing potential to be transformed into a unique central London building asset, with unobstructed views over the River Thames and towards the city. We worked carefully within planning constraints to create a new rooftop café and garden with whitewashed timber decking. This much loved amenity for tenants helps redefine Senator House as a distinctive and modern office space for a new London workforce.
