Bloomberg’s new European headquarters is respectful of its location in the heart of the City of London, close to the Bank of England, St. Paul’s Cathedral and the church of St. Stephen’s Walbrook. In its form, massing and materials, the new building is uniquely of their place and time – a natural extension of the City that will endure and improve the surrounding public realm. It is a true exemplar of sustainable development, with a BREEAM Outstanding rating – the highest design-stage score ever achieved by any major office development.

Occupying a full city block, the 3.2-acre site comprises two buildings united by bridges that span over a pedestrian arcade that reinstates Watling Street, an ancient Roman road that ran through the site. Bloomberg Arcade is now a key route for people moving around the City, with restaurants and cafes at ground level, set back behind an undulating façade under a covered colonnade. Three public plazas, located at each end of the arcade and in front of the building’s entrance, provide new civic spaces in the heart of the Square Mile.

Its striking façade is defined by a structural sandstone frame, with a series of large-scale bronze fins that shade the floor-to-ceiling glazing. The fins give the building a visual hierarchy and rhythm as they vary in scale, pitch and density across each façade according to orientation and solar exposure, while being an integral part of the building’s natural ventilation system.

Art plays a central role in the project, with major site-specific commissions in and around the building. Cristina Iglesias’ water sculpture in three parts, ‘Forgotten Streams’ – a homage to the ancient Walbrook River that once flowed through the site – defines the public spaces at each end of Bloomberg Arcade. The new Bloomberg building also returns the archaeological remains of the Roman Temple of Mithras to the site of their original discovery, with a new interpretation centre and cultural hub designed to give visitors an immersive experience of the temple and bring the history of the site to life.

The main entrance to Bloomberg is defined by a substantial porte-cochère, where the building forms two sides of a new formal city square. Arriving at the main entrance, everyone passes through the reception lobby before being drawn into the Vortex – a dramatic double-height space created by three inclined, curving timber shells. From here, high-speed fully-glazed lifts with a unique concealed mechanism – another innovation developed specifically for the building – carry everyone directly to the sixth floor.

Central to Bloomberg’s ethos, the double-height ‘pantry’ on the sixth floor is the heart of the building, reflecting the importance of sharing and collaboration at the company. Everyone passes through this animated space, increasing the likelihood of chance meetings and informal discussions.

A distinctive hypotrochoid stepped ramp, characterised by its smooth continuous three-dimensional loop, flows through the full height of the building, adding to the drama of the space. Clad in bronze, the ramp is designed and proportioned as a place of meeting and connection, allowing people to hold brief impromptu conversations with colleagues, whilst not impeding the flow of people.

The notion of teamwork and collaboration flows into the desking systems and layout of each floor. Bespoke height-adjustable, radial desks are laid out in clusters and pods for up to six people, allowing for privacy, personalisation, wellbeing and collaborative working. The ceiling is another unique and innovative element developed for the building, inspired by the pressed metal ceilings of New York. Its distinctive polished aluminium panels of ‘petals’ perform multiple roles – ceiling finish, light reflectors, cooling elements and acoustic attenuation – combining various elements of a typical office ceiling into an energy-saving integrated system.

Sustainability

• Breathable walls, to bring outdoor air through the building in a natural ventilation system

• Integrated chilled ceiling

• Roof louvre mounted solar panels

• Rainwater collection and re-use plus vacuum drainage will enable net zero water usage

• Cutting edge exterior core layout will allow an expansive floor plate, meaning we can make the large floors as wide open as possible

• First-of-a-kind, external facing glass elevators engineered to offer visitors, customers and employees unparalleled views of the City as they enter the building

BREEAM rating

Outstanding

The RMJM-designed Lakhta Centre in St Petersburgis Russia and Europe’s tallest building – standing 462 metres high. The twisted supertall skyscraper, is the 13th tallest building in the world. Developers Gazprom, a Russian gas company that will occupy most of the building, also claim it to be the “northernmost skyscraper in the world”.

The project of a business center with a high-rise landmark and base buildings was selected as a result of an international architectural contest conducted by the investor in 2006. The winner of the contest was RMJM company (Tony Kettle Design Director) which proposed a project complying with the requested functions of the future headquarters of a large energy company and concordant with the architectural traditions of Petersburg.

The architect’s task was to implement the project of a new ultramodern skyscraper in the city with a rich cultural and historical context, the historical centre of which is included in the UNESCO World Heritage List. Tony Kettle, the author of the architectural concept of the Lakhta Center: “The flowing forms of water, the glinting spires of the Peter and Paul cathedral, the size of the sky canvas above the horizontal grain. My sense was very much to create something that was as light and elegant as the historical forms, capturing the changes in daylight in a similar way to that of the golden domes and spires.”

“The tower was designed as a simple organic spire with asymmetrical movement in its skin, to be seen as a singular landmark at city scale. Underlying the simple elegance of its exterior there are actually five individual twisting towers, each with its own glazed skin. These come together and taper around a diminishing circular core, enveloped by a further insulating skin.”

The main architectural motives of Petersburg are reflected in the concept of a business center. It is a theme of a lonely spire in the horizontal landscape, and leaning base buildings symbolizing the ship hull, and maritime theme of wave-like bearing structures. An organic form of the building symbolizes the power of water, the flow of space, openness and lightness. The effect of free fall and maximum blending of the future complex with the environment will be emphasized by the glass of a special type, owning to this glass the tower will change its colors creating a feeling of a living being.

Lakhta Center incorporates a number of innovative energy-saving technologies into its design. A double-glazed façade increases the level of thermal insulation, leading to a reduction in heating and air-conditioning costs. An airy space between the façade skins will provide both thermal insulation and natural ventilation. In winter it allows keeping warmth and in summer coolness inside the building. An additional saving of power energy will be achieved by substituting conventional heating devices to infra-red radiators and applying the solution which allow re-using the heat emitted by technical and household devices in order to supply heating to the building. Similarly, the premises will be heated using excess heat generated from working technical equipment.