20 Gresham Street marks a significant transformation when compared to other recently developed buildings in the area. Located diagonally opposite the City of London’s Guildhall entrance at the corner of Milk Street, the building completes the redevelopment of the Western end of Gresham Street which has been completely redefined by new buildings in the past few years.

The building reveals its complexity when approached from the Bank of England at the Eastern end of Gresham Street. The Milk Street/Gresham Street corner is highly visible, due to the layout of the street and the placement of neighbouring buildings. he building marks this important corner by extending its curvilinear roof form to the ground. It gradually sets back over the full height of this curved facade element.

The vertical roof facade extends along Gresham Street at ground and first floor levels forming the entrance lobby facade. Two revolving doors are placed on the apex of the corner. They are designed to mark the transition from a bustling city street into a calm, ordered world by introducing a degree of solidity that frames the view into the entrance and reveals back-painted burgundy coloured glass panels that are repeated on a journey through the building. A double height cathedral-like entrance space lined with a sculpted travertine wall and a monumental reception desk creates an environment that is more reminiscent of an art gallery than an office lobby.

A project of

Kohn Pedersen Fox (International) PA

in which the following people at PLP Architecture were involved: Lee Polisano was Partner-in-Charge; Mark Kelly, Senior Designer; Gavin Eldred, Architect; Richard Woolsgrove, Head Visualizer; Harjit Sembi, Model Maker.

Client

Hermes Real Estate

City Offices Real Estate

Facility

Corporate Headquarters Building

Size

32,000sqm

Status

Completed

From the entrance area, the vertical circulation elements – escalators to the first floor and the lift lobby – act to orientate and allow access to the dealer floors at first and second floor levels and to the office floors above.

The benefits of the external pre-cast composite columns that form part of the external elevation are immediately evident on the first and second floors. The 2,800sqm floorplates have only seven internal columns and 18m spans. This accentuates the sense of unimpeded space and the greater degree of flexibility thereby afforded for generating different types of space as well the potential for multi-tenancy occupation.