Channel 4 Building

Few recent buildings in London have had such an instant and lasting effect in lifting the spirits of their surroundings as the Channel 4 headquarters, built in 1991-94, in one of the more charmless parts of Westminster, to the design of the Richard Rogers Partnership.

Further information
The Headquarters was a value-for-money, design and build, project with a £35 million cost limit (a long way from the Lloyds of London-type budget). Despite this, it still manages to greatly enhance the street scene by its fullblooded display of all the elegant brand features of the Rogers style-a combination of hi-tech details, repetitive use of a few simple design elements, and visual emphasis on its use of glass, pewter-grey aluminium and exposed structural steelwork.

Moreover, as with all Rogers buildings, the layout-plan could scarcely be simpler. Accommodating 800 staff in 15,000 sq. meters of office and studio space, two concrete framed glass and steel fronted office blocks overlook a central courtyard and converge theatrically at a convexed shaped corner entrance, where 80% of the architectural treatment is strategically focused.

More about the building

The entrance
This entrance is approached by a bridge over what appears to be a glass pool (but is actually the roof of an underground studio). In front, the visitor is confronted by a curving, suspended glass wall, internally stiffened by a two-way grid of cable trusses. To the left is a stack of meeting rooms, held in an elegant framework of tapered beams; while to the right - and acting as the building's 'mission statement' - an antennae tipped service tower supports cute-looking wall climber lifts, with banks of air coolant panels above.

The atrium
Inside, a characteristically glitzy, concave shaped atrium leads through to a staff restaurant with glimpses of the lushly landscaped courtyard beyond. The courtyard is completed by the distinctly non- tech, brick clad facades of the apartment blocks put up by a separate developer.

Service provision
Service provision was a priority in the design and accounted for more than 40% of the total cost. To help reduce the need for air ducting, chilled water is used to make the air conditioning plant more compact (the dry-air coolers above the lifts provide free cooling when the air temperature falls to 8C), while to limit solar gain, the external glass cladding has bands of sun-screen mesh (which also, of course, adds to the building's complexity of appearance).

The plot
The construction of 124 Horseferry Road began in 1990 and was completed in 1994. The developed site was a corner plot, in a mixed development area. When Channel 4 took over the site it included an abandoned 10 m deep basement of a proposed 1970s post office building. The area developed was 15 000 sq m. The architects, Richard Rogers Partnership, were given a brief to develop 15 000 sq m of headquarters and studios for Channel 4, a residential development of 100 apartments, an underground car park and landscaped garden.

Garden
The Richard Rogers partnership proposed a perimeter solution to their design brief, enclosing a semi-public garden. Channel 4 occupies the north and west sides of the site, whilst the south and east edges are residential blocks overlooking the garden.

Building geometry
The geometry of the Channel 4 building was prompted by the site. The two four-storey wings which contain mainly office space are arranged in an L shape, which addresses the corner of the street with a curved connecting space. The entrance, through a dramatic concave glazed wall, is the predominant feature of the scheme. A stepped ramp leads from the street over a glass bridge spanning a roof-light to the area below. Revolving doors through the suspended glass wall lead into the reception area. Behind this a restaurant fills the curve with views onto the garden.

Roof top terrace
A sweeping roof top terrace extends from the boardroom at the top level. The curve of the entrance is framed by two satellite towers. To the left are four conference rooms stacked on top of the other, and to the right lifts and plant, topped by transmission antennae.

Considerations
Channel 4 Television is a publisher rather than creator of programmes and therefore requires only a limited amount of studio space. All technical equipment and the main preview cinema are located in the basement. The office accommodation is designed to be flexible and divisible and services are located in cores. Throughout the design of the building a deliberate effort has been made to secure transparency through the use of plate glass and glass blocks, so as to reduce the impact of the building on a tightly built-up area and make maximum use of views out to the public open space. Light mesh screens modelled on motorway anti-dazzle barriers are applied to the outside of the lower portion of offices glazing to reduce solar gain and achieve the targeted energy efficiency standards.

Materials
Close attention has been paid to materials, Constructed on a concrete frame, the building is clad in powder-coated pewter-grey aluminium. Primary steelwork is a reddish brown, the exact colour of the Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco.

Access to Horseferry Road
The building is designed to make access for disabled people as easy as possible. Ramped areas - which are attractive and integral features rather than utilitarian add-ons - allow wheelchair access to the entrance, restaurant and cinema. There are glass accessible gates situated next to the speedstyle security gates, self-opening doors are situated on the top glass walkway above reception and induction loops are fitted in meeting rooms and the cinema.

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