Aviva Tower
Encyclopedia
St Helen's is an office tower in the City of London
. It is 118 metres (387 ft) tall and has 28 floors. Upon its completion in 1969, it was the first building in the City of London to exceed the height of St Paul's Cathedral
.
The building was designed by the Gollins Melvin Ward Partnership
in the International style
: the stark rectilinear geometry and detailing of the building was influenced by Ludwig Mies van der Rohe
and is somewhat reminiscent of his Seagram Building
in New York. It was built by Taylor Woodrow Construction
as one only four high rise buildings London using a top-down engineering design where the lower office floors are suspended from above rather than supported from below.
In 1992, the building was heavily damaged in the Baltic Exchange bombing, as a result of which it was substantially renovated.
The building was sold in 2003 by its then owner, the Abu Dhabi Investment Authority, to property developer Simon Halabi
. In May 2007, it was reported that Halabi was considering plans to demolish the building and replace it with a much taller tower, but this plan was not fulfilled. In May 2011, it was reported that the building had been sold to an undisclosed Far East private investor for £288 million.
Due to a number of issues affecting both sites, notably poor access to the Commercial Union site and the restricted width of the Peninsular and Oriental site, it was not possible to obtain planning consents that would optimise the amount of floor space desired by either company. As a result, the two companies decided to participate in a joint development that would involve the reallocation of site boundaries and the creation of an open concourse area at the junction of Leadenhall Street and St Mary Axe. Both companies would have frontages to the new concourse and would retain site areas equivalent to those enclosed by the original boundaries.
The architect for the project was the Gollins Melvin Ward Partnership, who acknowledged the influence of Mies van der Rohe. The design was an elongated cube in the modernist International style
. The original cladding (apart from the windows) was anodidized aluminium, whose colour changed in varying lighting conditions from dark grey to dark bronze.
The tower is 38m square and has 24 usable office floors. In addition there are two double-height plant floors; the boiler rooms on one of the plant floors also serviced the neighbouring Peninsular and Oriental building. The floor-to-site-area ration is 5.5:1. There were five underground levels, providing the staff restaurant, garage and three levels of storerooms and strongrooms.
Below the lowest office floor, the design was broken by an open podium, which was designed to provide elevated pedestrian access via the City of London Pedway Scheme
. Pedway was an ambitious, but ultimately unfulfilled, scheme to improve traffic flow in the City of London
by means of the construction of a network of elevated pedestrian walkways. From the mid 1960s to the 1980s, developers of major sites were required to provide access to the Pedway network as a condition of obtaining planning consent. The requirement was unpopular with designers, who regarded the results as visually unappealing unused space that often provided pedestrians with dead ends. In the case of this development, a podium-level walkway was constructed that linked the Commercial Union building with its neighbour, the Peninsular and Oriental building.
.
The structure comprises a central concrete service core, surrounded by a steel framework suspended from projecting steel truss sections at the mid and roof level plant floors. The office floors levels are suspended from these steel frameworks; the roof section supports twelve floors while the mid section supports thirteen floors. The steel hangers are installed in alternate window mullions and very in size from 0.23m x 0.02m to 0.23m x 0.05m. This suspended construction design was aimed at maximising floor space by largely eliminating the need for support columns.
The new piazza in front of the two new buildings was below street level and steps were constructed on two sides. Air intake louvres for ventilating the building's five sub-surface levels were built into the treads of the steps. The piazza was planted with semi-mature lime trees.
City of London
The City of London is a small area within Greater London, England. It is the historic core of London around which the modern conurbation grew and has held city status since time immemorial. The City’s boundaries have remained almost unchanged since the Middle Ages, and it is now only a tiny part of...
. It is 118 metres (387 ft) tall and has 28 floors. Upon its completion in 1969, it was the first building in the City of London to exceed the height of St Paul's Cathedral
St Paul's Cathedral
St Paul's Cathedral, London, is a Church of England cathedral and seat of the Bishop of London. Its dedication to Paul the Apostle dates back to the original church on this site, founded in AD 604. St Paul's sits at the top of Ludgate Hill, the highest point in the City of London, and is the mother...
.
The building was designed by the Gollins Melvin Ward Partnership
GMW Architects
GMW Architects are an architectural practice based in the United Kingdom.-History:The practice was established in 1947 by Frank Gollins , James Melvin , and Edmund Ward and operated as Gollins Melvin Ward...
in the International style
International style (architecture)
The International style is a major architectural style that emerged in the 1920s and 1930s, the formative decades of Modern architecture. The term originated from the name of a book by Henry-Russell Hitchcock and Philip Johnson, The International Style...
: the stark rectilinear geometry and detailing of the building was influenced by Ludwig Mies van der Rohe
Ludwig Mies van der Rohe
Ludwig Mies van der Rohe was a German architect. He is commonly referred to and addressed as Mies, his surname....
and is somewhat reminiscent of his Seagram Building
Seagram Building
The Seagram Building is a skyscraper, located at 375 Park Avenue, between 52nd Street and 53rd Street in Midtown Manhattan, New York City. It was designed by Ludwig Mies van der Rohe, in collaboration with Philip Johnson. Severud Associates were the structural engineering consultants. The building...
in New York. It was built by Taylor Woodrow Construction
Taylor Woodrow
Taylor Woodrow was one of the largest British housebuilding and general construction companies. It was listed on the London Stock Exchange and was once a constituent of the FTSE 100 Index but merged with rival George Wimpey to create Taylor Wimpey on 3 July 2007.-Early years:Frank Taylor was...
as one only four high rise buildings London using a top-down engineering design where the lower office floors are suspended from above rather than supported from below.
In 1992, the building was heavily damaged in the Baltic Exchange bombing, as a result of which it was substantially renovated.
The building was sold in 2003 by its then owner, the Abu Dhabi Investment Authority, to property developer Simon Halabi
Simon Halabi
Simon Halabi is a Syrian-born in Damascus Syria, he is a businessman formerly based in the United Kingdom. He is married to Lithuanian born Urte and has two sons, Samuel and Jacob. Samual died in August 2003 in a pool accident in France....
. In May 2007, it was reported that Halabi was considering plans to demolish the building and replace it with a much taller tower, but this plan was not fulfilled. In May 2011, it was reported that the building had been sold to an undisclosed Far East private investor for £288 million.
Design and Development
In 1961, the Commercial Union Assurance Company had acquired a site in St Mary Axe, in the City of London, which it desired to develop as its new headquarters. The site comprised adjacent properties in St Mary Axe and the former Shell building in Great St Helens . At the same time, the Peninsular and Oriental Steam Navigation Company was planning to redevelop its city offices in Leadenhall Street.Due to a number of issues affecting both sites, notably poor access to the Commercial Union site and the restricted width of the Peninsular and Oriental site, it was not possible to obtain planning consents that would optimise the amount of floor space desired by either company. As a result, the two companies decided to participate in a joint development that would involve the reallocation of site boundaries and the creation of an open concourse area at the junction of Leadenhall Street and St Mary Axe. Both companies would have frontages to the new concourse and would retain site areas equivalent to those enclosed by the original boundaries.
The architect for the project was the Gollins Melvin Ward Partnership, who acknowledged the influence of Mies van der Rohe. The design was an elongated cube in the modernist International style
International style (architecture)
The International style is a major architectural style that emerged in the 1920s and 1930s, the formative decades of Modern architecture. The term originated from the name of a book by Henry-Russell Hitchcock and Philip Johnson, The International Style...
. The original cladding (apart from the windows) was anodidized aluminium, whose colour changed in varying lighting conditions from dark grey to dark bronze.
The tower is 38m square and has 24 usable office floors. In addition there are two double-height plant floors; the boiler rooms on one of the plant floors also serviced the neighbouring Peninsular and Oriental building. The floor-to-site-area ration is 5.5:1. There were five underground levels, providing the staff restaurant, garage and three levels of storerooms and strongrooms.
Below the lowest office floor, the design was broken by an open podium, which was designed to provide elevated pedestrian access via the City of London Pedway Scheme
City of London Pedway Scheme
The City of London Pedway Scheme was a plan to transform traffic flows in the City of London by separating pedestrians from street level traffic using elevated walkways...
. Pedway was an ambitious, but ultimately unfulfilled, scheme to improve traffic flow in the City of London
City of London
The City of London is a small area within Greater London, England. It is the historic core of London around which the modern conurbation grew and has held city status since time immemorial. The City’s boundaries have remained almost unchanged since the Middle Ages, and it is now only a tiny part of...
by means of the construction of a network of elevated pedestrian walkways. From the mid 1960s to the 1980s, developers of major sites were required to provide access to the Pedway network as a condition of obtaining planning consent. The requirement was unpopular with designers, who regarded the results as visually unappealing unused space that often provided pedestrians with dead ends. In the case of this development, a podium-level walkway was constructed that linked the Commercial Union building with its neighbour, the Peninsular and Oriental building.
Construction
The construction of the Commercial Union building was undertaken by Taylor Woodrow ConstructionTaylor Woodrow
Taylor Woodrow was one of the largest British housebuilding and general construction companies. It was listed on the London Stock Exchange and was once a constituent of the FTSE 100 Index but merged with rival George Wimpey to create Taylor Wimpey on 3 July 2007.-Early years:Frank Taylor was...
.
The structure comprises a central concrete service core, surrounded by a steel framework suspended from projecting steel truss sections at the mid and roof level plant floors. The office floors levels are suspended from these steel frameworks; the roof section supports twelve floors while the mid section supports thirteen floors. The steel hangers are installed in alternate window mullions and very in size from 0.23m x 0.02m to 0.23m x 0.05m. This suspended construction design was aimed at maximising floor space by largely eliminating the need for support columns.
The new piazza in front of the two new buildings was below street level and steps were constructed on two sides. Air intake louvres for ventilating the building's five sub-surface levels were built into the treads of the steps. The piazza was planted with semi-mature lime trees.