engineering.
Oops! Looks like your browser is out of date. Is this page displaying correctly? If not, try upgrading your browser or use a different one.

17 Charterhouse Street.

Hatton Garden has long been the heart of London’s jewellery community. The international mining company Anglo American, along with its diamond subsidiary De Beers, is maintaining its presence in the area with this new corporate headquarters facility. AKT II has designed the building’s envelope in collaboration with MCM Architecture.

A part-refurbished, high-end headquarters in a historic area of central London.

Location
London, United Kingdom
Client
Anglo American De Beers
Architect
MCM Architecture
Floor Area
18,600 m²
Status
completed 2021
Expertise
Façade

At 17 Charterhouse Street, the seven-storey workspace building reuses much of the site’s existing structure as well as portions of the existing envelope, while the adjoined St Andrew’s House (which is Grade II listed) is also integrated. Although, it’s a sensitive urban redevelopment that requires a fine-tuned approach to the various refurbishment and new-build elements.

In total, AKT II’s envelope design dynamically applies eleven different façade typologies to achieve the required architectural performance. Many unique elements are incorporated. The façade is principally made with curtain walling for transparency and operability, together with stone cladding for aesthetics and durability.

At ground level, the building is clad with granite and Portland stone, together with the site’s retained stone material, for a natural feel. A double-height main-entrance area is also provided. The envelope across the upper floors is then made with a customised, unitised curtain-wall with glazing on projecting and recessed planes; rainscreen cladding, and projecting fins with a bronzed finish, are integrated for weatherproofing and solar control. And at the fifth and sixth floors, the façade recedes to create new outdoor terraces, with a mix of glazed and opaque elements that balance the required transparency and thermal performance.

A new pavilion structure is also introduced in the courtyard. It’s enclosed with flush glazing across the walls and roof, which is supported on slim architectural-steel portal frames.

Two
Manhattan
West
Lobby
'Radiant Lines'
installation
 
 
A Brick for Venice thumbnailA Brick
for Venice.
 
 
One
Gosvenor
Square
 
Stephen A. Schwarzman Centre for the Humanities thumbnailThe Stephen A. Schwarzman
Centre for the Humanities
 
 
Albert Bridge House thumbnailAlbert Bridge House.
 
 
 
Edgar's Sheds thumbnailEdgar's
Sheds.
 
 
Luton     Power Court
Stadium.
 
 
Wide shot of St Pancras Campus on site with facade installation complete.St Pancras
Campus.
 
 
Wind Sculpture
(TG) I
 
 
Sentosa
Sensoryscape.
 
 
The
Beacon.
 
 
Liverpool
School of
Architecture.
 
Georges Malaika
Foundation School.
 
 
Cherry
Groce
Memorial.
 
Khudi
Bari.
 
 
Haus Gables thumbnailHaus
Gables.
 
 
10   Lewis
Cubitt
Square.
 
'Drift'
footbridge.
 
 
The Gaumont ThumbnailThe
Gaumont.
 
 
5448_N8_hdSeratech
 
 
 
4926_HiRes_rendering_N7_hdApex
1.
 
 
5008_highRes_image_N3_hdUCB
Headquarters
Campus.
 
Manor    Road
Quarter.
 
 
17 Charterhouse
Street.
 
 
Brent Cross
Plot 15.
 
 
100-West-Cromwell-Road-thumbnail100
West Cromwell
Road.
 
Brent Cross
Plot 25.
 
 
Chapter
London
Bridge.
 
Roatan
Prospera.