St. Swithins Lane is a busy City pedestrian thoroughfare – a prime link between Cannon Street station and many parts of the Square Mile. It is a historic and narrow street, a legacy of its medieval origins, so most views of the buildings either side are oblique. Creating a high profile entrance to a new office scheme is a challenge.
Our clients, LaSalle Investment Management, commissioned us to refurbish their entire 2,600m2 office building. No 18 was a parcel of three buildings knitted together, so providing good quality floor-plates to contemporary standards was a prime driver of our brief, as was the need to properly announce the ‘new arrival’ onto St. Swithins Lane.
Our response was to open up the façade and to create a fitting and dynamic new reception space. A new curved feature wall, sculpted from solid surface material with images inspired by the building’s Victorian elevations, is backlit and provides the focus. It also acts as a seating area and screen for mechanical equipment allowing us to maximise the ceiling height.