Victoria Embankment

Location: Victoria Embankment, London

Client: Fore Partnership

Sector: Office, Commercial, Mixed Use

We carried out several studies with the developer, Fore, to support them in bidding for a number of prominent Central London sites. These have taken the form of fast-track studies analysing development potential, to enable them to make intelligent bids on properties.

Following Fore successfully acquiring 58 Victoria Embankment, we went on to look at a Cat A Developer's Specification for the refurbishment or redevelopment of the site. The brief was to provide a minimum of 50,000 square feet net internal area (NIA) of BREEAM Excellent, flexible office space, which could be let to one tenant or multiple tenants, incorporating a roof terrace with panoramic views of the Thames.

58 Victoria Embankment is located in a prominent position overlooking the River Thames to the south. The property is adjacent to the Inns of Court to the west, Blackfriars Bridge to the east, and St Paul’s Cathedral to the north east. The immediate vicinity is an established City of London office location, which has benefited in recent years from ongoing development of the surrounding area and, most recently, from the redevelopment of Blackfriars Station. Among its site constraints are the fact that it is in a conservation area and that it is in the St Paul’s Heights viewing corridor.Early lighting analysis allowed us to locate an atrium in the most efficient place, with all the core elements down one side of the enclosed building. An efficient and compact core allows a high degree of flexibility for floor layouts and an optimum depth for natural lighting, ventilation and environmental cooling. The central atrium acts as a dynamic volume, creating views and visual links and also assists in natural lighting and ventilation for the building. The key design principles of robustness, longevity, economic and environmental responsibility and ease of construction were central to the design.

With a simple palette of materials the building seeks to fit in, rather than stand out, and is designed to blend in well with the surrounding Conservation Area.