Architecture

Given the site’s location with four major tube lines running beneath, the building requires an innovative engineering solution, designed by Robert Bird Group, which will be expressed through its architectural form.

The building above is supported on an A-frame structure, that spans like a bridge across the site and transfers load into the ground on either side of the tunnels. The base of the building is a heavy ground- bearing structure that balances against the heave effect of the tunnels below.

Our proposals are to express the steel structure so that it becomes part of the architectural identity of the building connecting it visually, as well as physically, to the infrastructure of Waterloo Station.

The heavy arched bridge structure at the base of building has a practical engineering role in ‘pinning down’ the many tube
lines that run beneath the building, whilst supporting the workspaces above and in the process creating interesting new spaces for retail at the lower levels.

The building is designed with the appearance of ‘whiteness’ through the
use of glass and other materials to gently enhance the existing skyline in the Waterloo cluster, whilst proudly expressing the engineering solution which has been so fundamental to the architectural approach.

CGI of the building as viewed from York Road.