Dome

Steel rods and glass wall trusses, detail; The building is in an historic area known as St Katharine’s Dock (built by the engineer Thomas Telford, 1825-1828), adjacent to the Tower of London and Tower Bridge. The scheme features a giant ‘window’ facing west to the Tower of London. On the south (dock) side extensive use of solar shading gives it an appropriately solid look. The scheme provides seven floors of office accommodation, an underground service level with loading bay, one floor of retail provision accessible from the new dockside piazza, and a large full-height atrium. The floor plates are column-free, and serviced from cores situated at the corners of the building and a central core. High performance glass façades and fixed horizontal aluminium louvres (on the south and east façades) combine to significantly reduce the building’s energy consumption. These improve the quality of the office space by regulating the solar gain from the glass façades and allowing daylight into the building. Source: Richard Rogers Partnership [website]; http://www.richardrogers.co.uk/ (accessed 5/8/2011)