Historically Aware: Apartment Building in London by Squire and Partners

The architectural office of Squire and Partners has designed a new office and residential development in Mayfair, a district of London with a heritage of its own. Accordingly, the design of the façade provides subtle references to the past. Architects: Squire and Partners, London
Location: 10 Hanover Street, London W1S 1YF, Großbritannien

The wide office building and slender residential block in Hanover Street were completed in early December. To put the smaller width of the narrow plot to more effective use, the two buildings have a shared circulation core.

The apartment building has an open and highly-modulated façade. The pale prefabricated balcony elements make an airy impression with their glass balustrades and lend horizontal articulation to the seven-story mass. Storey-height perforated shutters that can be closed across the complete width of the building provide the residents with privacy yet allow light to permeate into the rooms.

The foldable aluminium elements refer back to the history of the district and the street, which between 1800 and 1930 was largely occupied by military tailors producing, among other things, red parade uniforms with golden trim. These colours are to be found in the foldable sun screens, while the pattern of the perforations is abstracted from the chevron motif woven into the fabric of the uniforms. The dark bronze look of the shutters echoes the traditional colour of Mayfair shop fronts.

The ground floor is occupied by an art gallery 127 m² in size. The other floors have an open-plan design and a duplex apartment is located at the topmost level.

Project data Client: Morgen Capital Partnership
Structural engineer: Waterman Quantity Surveyor
Façade, aluminium shutters: Astec Projects
Façade, windows and glass doors: Schuco
Concrete elements: Lloveld , Belgium

Living space: 535 m²
Completion: December 2013