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More London Buildings

Mixed-use Development on the River Thames, UK – design by Foster + Partners

New photos of London Bridge City buildings from 12 Nov 2012:

More London Building

7 More London, PwC
Date built: 2010
Design: BDP

Photo – exclusive to e-architect – from 23 Sep 2012:

photo © Nick Weall

photos © Keepclicking

Staff have moved into the new headquarters building for PricewaterhouseCoopers at 7 More London, on the south bank of the Thames near Tower Bridge.

photo © David Barbour / BDP
More London Office Development

More London Masterplan

London Bridge City
Date: 1998-2003/10
Architect: Foster + Partners ; Co-architects: KSS Architects Limited

7 Mar 2010

Construction Progress Update

photos © Nick Weall

Location: southeast London
Project: commercial development – masterplan

photos © Nick Weall

Feb 2010

Final building at More London achieves BREEAM ‘Outstanding’ rating

Foster + Partners has completed the first office building in England to achieve the BREEAM ‘Outstanding’ accreditation. 7 More London Riverside is the final and largest building within the More London masterplan, developed by More London Development, and provides a new 10-storey, sustainable headquarters for PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP.

The building incorporates a range of energy saving strategies. In addition to a high-performance façade designed to offer shade and insulation, the building features solar hot water panels, green roofs and fully automated building management and metering systems. A Combined Cooling Heating & Power (CCHP) trigeneration plant provides a low carbon source of cooling, heat and power and has resulted in 55% less CO2 emissions than that required under the 2006 Part L2 Building Regulations.

Visible from all sides, the building does not have an obvious ‘front’ or ‘back’, so particular consideration has been given to the façade in assuming a distinctive presence within the masterplan. The zig-zag facades screen the interiors but allow daylight to penetrate the office floors. A sequence of external louvres animate the glazed facades, capturing and projecting light and colours inside and creating a sparkling effect on the building’s outer skin.

More London images : Foster + Partners © Nigel Young

To further maximise daylight and views, the building’s symmetrical wings open towards the river to reveal the open circular drum at its core. Three curved bridges, at levels 2, 5 and 8, connect the two wings, while the southern elevation drops to 7 storeys to respect the height of the buildings along Tooley Street.

A triple height internal atrium functions as a central plaza for the building’s occupiers – a space where the potential for art and the arrangement of lifts and bridges mirrors the external life of More London. Escalators ascend to a mezzanine level with client meeting rooms and entertaining facilities, while a bank of lifts transport staff directly from ground level to the office floors. Two skylights illuminate the space and provide a focus for the circular landscaped terrace above, which forms one of several roof gardens. As well as a green roof on the lower southern elevation, the building incorporates a rubble roof to simulate a habitat that attracted birds during wartime London, but has since been displaced by modern development.

Mike Jelliffe, partner responsible at Foster + Partners, commented:
“We are delighted that 7 More London Riverside has achieved the BREEAM ‘Outstanding’ rating and I congratulate the full team involved in the project. This is an excellent result – it is testament to the outstanding quality of the design; our highly successful collaboration with Roger Preston & Partners, Arup, MACE, BDP and a wide range of consultants; and the vision and support of More London Development and PricewaterhouseCoopers.”

More London images : Foster + Partners © Nigel Young

• The More London masterplan covers a 13-acre site in Southwark bounded by the River Thames and contains City Hall, a hotel, office buildings and extensive landscaped public space, including an open amphitheatre.

• The building will now undergo a fit-out by others and is due to open in 2011.

• The landscaped approach to the main entrance incorporates limestone paving, mature trees and water features that mediate the transition between the building and riverside space. Shops and cafes at ground level run along the western edge of the building, completing the retail parade that bisects the diagonal pedestrian axis through the masterplan.

• Waste during construction was reduced by the use, where possible, of pre-fabricated components and the embodied energy of materials played an important part in their selection, for example in the procurement of CFC-free insulation.

• The zig-zag outline of the façade contributes to the environmental strategy and supports the space planning within the building, as each module can define a standard cellular office when closed by internal partitions.

More London images : Foster + Partners © Nigel Young