100 Buildings 100 Years

1987: Broadgate Development

Status: Unlisted
Condition: Good condition
Type: Commercial/offices
Architect: Arup Associates, lead Architect Peter Foggo
Location: Broadgate, London, EC2M 2QS

The initial four phases of Broadgate, the largest and defining commercial development of its time in what has become the City, were created between the developers appointed by British Rail and the multidisciplinary design team of which I was a member. The heart of the complex is a unique central pedestrian square and circle with colonnade clad in travertine marble about which the offices are arranged and is a popular focal point for activities including until recently winter ice skating. It is intersected by pedestrian routes accessing the lower ground Liverpool St Station and the local surroundings segregated from vehicular and bus movements.

The office buildings of composite steel frame and concrete construction remain as leading examples of efficiency whilst the large floorplates created are internally enhanced by daylight from dramatic glazed atria. The unified facades of the offices at lower levels utilise granite screens to reduce glare and solar gain whilst the upper stories are set back to improve daylight within the square, all enhanced at ground level by sculpture and high quality surface materials of granite.

by Tony Taylor, Structural Engineer

Certificate of immunity from listing

Note: Broadgate now partly redeveloped; later Broadgate phases 5-15 by Skidmore Owings and Merrill